


don't make me change my mind

by endlesspossibilities



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2017-12-30 04:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1014347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endlesspossibilities/pseuds/endlesspossibilities
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ashlyn moves from big city, Philadelphia, to small town, Osborne, she's in for a big culture shock, but what she thought would be the end of her life actually turns into an easy transition as soon as she joins the Quaker Valley High School soccer team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ali always liked living in a small town. She knows everyone, their stories, and families. Her town has less than a thousand people in it, 758 to be exact, and she used to ride a bus to school in a nearby town, until she saved up enough money to get a car. There are 640 students who join her there, and she’s proud to say she’s on the varsity soccer team with 16 other girls. Many of the girls also partake in other athletics, with so little competition for spots, but to Ali soccer is the only sport. She wouldn’t have time for anything else with her schoolwork anyways.  
  
She loves her small town, and dreams of coming back one day to build her own family. It’s comfortable here, and Ali likes her comfort.  
  
\-----  
  
“Ali! Wait up,” Kelley calls down the hallway to get Ali’s attention. 6th hour has just ended and 7th is soccer, where they are both headed.  
  
“Hey,” Ali smiles as she waits for her friend to catch up. As soon as Kelley was in step with her, she speeds up again knowing they didn’t have much time to make it to the locker room and get changed before practice.  
  
“Have you seen Alex today? I couldn’t find her after 5th period…” Kelley asks looking worried about her friend.  
  
“No, but I’m sure she’s fine. Alex doesn’t miss school.” Ali laughs and Kelley agree with a nod. As they near the locker room two other smiling girls join them.  
  
“Lauren, Tobin! Have either of you seen Alex today?” Kelley continues her investigation.  
  
“Sure. She was in speech 4th.” Tobin nods, not even bothering to ask why Kelley was wondering.  
  
“Oh. She didn’t come by my locker after 5th. Wonder why…”  
  
Tobin seems to lightly blush at this comment, but only shrugs half-heartedly before opening the door for them all. The locker room is loud with several teams of girls changing into their uniforms for practice. Ali heads over to her locker, right next to Becky’s her fellow backline player, and immediately starts stripping out of her skinny jeans and replaces them with soccer shorts. With a glance, she notices Alex and inwardly sighs since that meant Kelley was once again overreacting. Some of the girls have already changed and are now dancing around in their socks; Megan and Sydney, two firecrackers of girls, were heading this group. Everyone finishes getting ready and head out to the field in groups of two or three. Ali ends up next to Hope, their goalkeeper, and Kelley as they talk about last game’s defense. Although they won the game, the other team managed to score twice and that was two times too many for this backline.  
  
“I mean honestly they were a good team, and that one girl had speed to rival Morgan’s but there were holes we could have filled.” Hope gives her input and Kelley gazes up at her with understanding and even some awe of the senior. The two were practically a couple, even though neither would admit it.  
  
“Well we can work on that today. Tomorrow is our next game,” she nods before kneeling down to the grass in order to put on her cleats.  
  
The group joins a mass centered around their coach and Kelley hops up and down in order to see around Abby. Ali rolls her eyes before moving herself to see what the commotion was all about. She sees Coach Sermanni and then she sees the girl, an unknown blonde who’s shifting under the gaze of the players, next to him.  
  
“Alright ladies, I’d like to introduce Ashlyn Harris, she’s here to try-out as a goalkeeper.” At the mention of her name, the blonde lifts her eyes and puts her chin up in order to seem more confident than before.  
  
“Hey,” Ashlyn smiles and Ali has to keep herself from laughing when she hears how adorable and girly her voice is. It doesn’t match for some reason, and she can hear Sydney fail to hide her own giggle. The girl remains unfazed though, so Ali just shrugs off her initial surprise.  
  
“I guess we should do introductions?” Coach seems unsure when all the girls groan.  
  
“It’s okay, I can figure out.” Ashlyn offers to the relief of everyone else.  
  
“Then let’s warm-up! Ashlyn you should go with Hope.” He turns to her and Hope motions to let Ashlyn know whom she is.  
  
The group of girls all start going through the motions by jogging around the soccer field to warm up.  
  
“So, I’m Hope Solo, a senior here and the starting, well really the only, goalkeeper. How old are you?”  
  
“I’m a junior…” Hope nods, glad the girl is younger than her.  
  
“Hi! I’m Kelley, sophomore defender.” Kelley puts herself into the conversation with a smile.  
  
“Nice to meet you, Kelley.” Ashlyn laughs at the bubbly girl.  
  
“Shove off, Kel. I’m trying to get a read on the newbie.” Hope smirks and runs into her, sending the small girl off course.  
  
“She’s just joking. Hope could never actually be mean to me,” Kelley explains, but more to tease Hope than to actually explain.  
  
“Why aren’t you up there with Tobin and Alex?” Hope rolls her eyes and motions toward to Kelley’s best friends.  
  
“I don’t know… I feel like something happened between them. They’re both all quiet and blushing. And Tobin keeps staring at Alex like her world might end at any moment if she doesn’t.” She isn’t really jealous, and she’s not positive there’s something to be jealous of yet, but it’s still weird.  
  
“Just go,” Ali pushes her forward as the all slow to a stop, before she turns to introduce herself.  
  
“I’m Ali. I’m also a defender, but I’m a junior like you. So where are you from?”  
  
“Philadelphia.”  
  
“Whoa, that’s a big difference from Leetsville, Pennsylvania.” Ali gapes at the mention of the largest city in Pennsylvania.  
  
“Oh yeah. There were over two thousand people at my last school, and now there’s not two thousand in the town I’m living in.” Ashlyn explains.  
  
“Where do you live? Not to be like creepy, I just meant since there’s a couple of commuter communities.” Ali asks.  
  
“Osborne. Even tinier than Leets.” Ashlyn shrugs as she remembers the name of her new town.  
  
“That’s where I live,” Ali smiles. It’s always nice to hear someone else lives close.  
  
“Really? So then I should come to you for all the secret short-cuts, hang-outs and make-out sites.” Ashlyn winks at her and Ali blushes. Did the new girl just flirt with her?  
  
“Ali? No way. Come to me,” Megan slides in between them saving Ali from a comeback.  
  
“I’m your best bet for all those things. Plus I live in Osborne too.”  
  
“Oh cool. Anyone else?” Ashlyn asks.  
  
“Nope. Everyone else lives in Leets, except Tobin, Alex and Lauren, who live in Willard across the river.” Hope explains to her.  
  
“The river?”  
  
“The Ohio River. Wow, you really are new.” Ashlyn blushes when she realizes her question.  
  
…  
  
Up with Alex and Tobin, Kelley is trying to hint that she knows something is different with them, but they’re too caught up in another cryptic conversation to really pay attention.  
  
“I really think I could like that Ashlyn girl. Not like you guys though. Cause we’re best friends, and tell each other everything.”  
  
“Lex. Please, just come over after practice. My parents won’t be home till 6.” Tobin pleads without acknowledging Kelley and this time Alex sighs before nodding.  
  
“Okay. Now what were you saying, Kel?”  
  
“Huh, oh nothing. Just you know, new girl.” Kelley quickly covers.  
  
“Right, it’s Ashlyn? Seems chill.” Tobin seems a little more at ease now that Alex agreed to her proposal.  
  
“I think so. Goalkeeper though… I’m sure she won’t threaten Hope’s spot.” Kelley wonders about her “not” girlfriend’s starting position, but seems confident in her abilities.  
  
“Oh yeah, Hope is the best keeper in like the state.” Alex assures her.

The rest of practice is much like any others, except now they actually had two capable goalkeepers. It became obvious throughout practice that Ashlyn would be staying with them considering her skill level. She wasn’t quite as outstanding as Hope, but very few people are. She was good though, and it made their shooting drills more interesting as they got used to a different person.  
  
“Wow, Ashlyn! That was an awesome save.” Alex shouts whenever Ashlyn gets a hand on one of Syd’s balls to send it over the crossbar.  
  
“Thanks,” She replies before dusting some grass off her pants. When practice is over, Ashlyn gets to meet more of the team, and bounces around trying to learn all their names and also letting them know that she goes by Ash most the time.  
  
“Ash, what’s your schedule look like?” Megan asks her as they grab their bags from the lockers.  
  
“Ummm, here it is.” Ashlyn fishes it out of her bag and hands it off to Megan. Ali, HAO, Becky and Rachel all look at her courses since they were juniors also.  
  
“We have physics and algebra together.” Megan says and passes it on.  
  
“History and physics.” HAO says.  
  
“Speech.” Becky.  
  
“Sorry, nothing.” Rachel.  
  
“English, and history.” Ali says as she passes it back to Ashlyn.  
  
“Cool, I’ll know who to look for. Oh, what about lunch? I think I have B.” she looks towards the whole team for this one.  
  
“Tobin, Alex, HAO, Sydney and I all have that lunch. I’ll show you where we sit.” Ali lets her know. Ali was actually pretty excited about this new girl. From the time they’d spent together so far, she could tell they could become very close. Although Ash wasn’t used to a lot of the small town things that Ali grew up in, and seemed to prefer the idea of the city, Ali has a feeling she could convince her of the small town charms.  
  
When Ashlyn walks out of the locker room accompanied by three other girls she can’t help the grin on her face that lasts all the way to her parent’s car. She didn’t expect to make friends on the first day, she was convinced that the country girls would either being incredibly lame, or closed off. So far neither was true.  
  
...  
  
When Ali gets home she checks her phone and sees the team group message is being blown up.  
  
“She seems really cool!”- Megan  
  
“We need to have a team sleepover tomorrow night after the game”- Kelley  
  
“I volunteer Lauren’s house”- Tobin  
  
“You can’t do that Tobs!”- Lauren  
  
“Too late;)”- Tobin  
  
“My parents said yes…”- Lauren  
  
“YAY! Partyyy”- Alex  
  
“Who wants to bring the booze???”- Sydney  
  
“NO BOOZE”- Lauren  
  
“Fine. Who wants to pre-party with me and bring booze???”- Sydney  
  
“No one Syd.”- Ali  
  
“ME.”- Megan  
  
“Ha. You were wrong, Ali”- Sydney  
  
And so on until it was decided that tomorrow night after the game, everyone who could would meet at Lauren’s house, and spend the night in her guesthouse. With very few drinks.  
  
“How was school today, sweetheart?” Ali’s mom asks as she drops her bags onto the floor near the laundry room.  
  
“Pretty good. We got a new goalkeeper on the soccer team. She seems cool. We’re going to have a team night tomorrow to really introduce her.” Ali plops into a kitchen chair and grabs a few grapes to pop into her mouth.  
  
“That sounds like fun. Be good.” Her mom tells her, she’s not naïve to the fact that some high school kids drink, but she knows that the soccer team is made of good girls really, and they always take care of each other.  
  
…  
  
Across the river, Tobin and Alex are just pulling into Tobin’s driveway. The car ride had been virtually silent with Alex’s mom driving them, since both were young for their class and didn’t have licenses.  
  
“Alright, I’ll pick you up later dear. At least try to do some homework and not goof around all night,” she warns her as they get out of the car.  
  
“Got it, Mom.” Alex smiles sweetly and shuts the door.  
  
“Bye, Mrs. Morgan! See you tomorrow.” Tobin waves her off and then turns towards her door.  
  
“Come on,” she twists her key and ushers Alex inside.  
  
“Right, so I was thinking we should start on chemistry first since neither of us are very good at it and it might take awhile.” Alex pulls out some notebooks from her bag.  
  
“Lex.”  
  
“Then go onto algebra.”  
  
“Lex.”  
  
“And if we have time, the english reading.”  
  
“Alex!” Tobin raises her voice to finally get Alex’s attention. Alex, wiping at her eyes to hide the tears, turns to her.  
  
“I know. I’m sorry.” she whispers hoarsely.  
  
“I just think we need to talk about this. I mean, I kissed you. And not to assume anything, but you kissed me back” Tobin takes a step closer to her with hesitancy.  
  
“I know I did. Tobin, you know how I feel about this. About you. But this isn’t California. This isn’t even Philidelphia. We live in Willard. Population 2,000. Your parents attend church every sunday, and a bible study every Wednesday. Right now, they’re volunteering at a food bank. What would happen to us if this became… a thing?” Alex tries to keep Tobin’s eye contact the whole time she speaks, hoping her eyes might show just how afraid she is. Both of them being together, and also that she may lose her best friend.  
  
“I don’t know… And I’m well aware of how complicated this is, but I just don’t think we can pretend this never happened. It’s not like I planned on kissing you today. It wasn’t some big scheme, you were just standing so close to me and you smiled even though my joke was beyond lame, and I did it. I can’t promise that won’t happen again, because when we’re together I physically have to remind myself that this isn’t normal. That I can’t just do this.” Tobin gets even closer, so that she can reach up and brush her hand across Alex’s neck, making her shiver.  
  
“Tobs.” Alex starts to reach out for her and Tobin leans in to meet her halfway. They barely graze their lips together at first, before Tobin closes the distance and captures Alex’s lips with her own. After a second they part again, and Alex drops her head onto Tobin’s shoulder to cry.  
  
“I honestly can’t imagine life without you. But I’m afraid that this might be the beginning of it.” Alex mumbles into Tobin’s neck.  
  
“Or it could be the beginning of so much more. We’ll never know unless we try... Come on, let’s go to my room. Bring the chemistry book, and just lay with me. Please?” Tobin ends her question with a kiss to the temple and Alex looks up at her for a second before nodding.  
  
Somehow, Tobin knows that Alex is agreeing to more than just chemistry.  
  
...  
  
The next day at school Ashlyn isn’t nearly as nervous walking into her classes knowing that someone has her back in all her classes. Since she has first period study block, she comes in to her first class of physics and spots HAO and Megan waving to her frantically from the back of the class. Ash hands the teacher her schedule for confirmation and then makes her way down the aisle to sit in a seat that Heather had apparently saved for her.  
  
“How goes it, new girl?” she smiles while moving her backpack off the desk to allow Ashlyn to sit down.  
  
“Well I didn’t get lost, so pretty good I’d say.” Ashlyn sighs while leaning back in her chair.  
  
“It’s not exactly the biggest school so I’m not surprised.” Megan points out.  
  
“True, at my last school you could get lost even if it was your 3rd year there!” Ash remembers the size of her giant Philadelphia school.  
  
“It must be pretty strange for you here. Everyone knows everything, and everyone.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m still getting used to it. I mean no one is surprised that there’s a new girl because everyone has already been told.” Ashlyn admits. The teacher starts to write on the board, so she turns back toward the front and tries to listen. Which gets harder when Megan gets bored halfway through class and starts to flick paper balls at her.  
  
“I’m just testing you keeper skills. Try and block them!” she defends when Ash turns to give her a look.  
  
Her next couple classes are much the same, rotating people and differing subjects. The highlight came when she makes it to English right before lunch. She’s not sure why, but it seems like she’s really connected to Ali.  
  
“Hi!” the brunette smiles at her before she sits down.  
  
“Hey, how are you?” Ashlyn asks, trying to be polite for once in her life.  
  
“I’m doing good. How’s your day been?”  
  
“I don’t know. It’s been good, but I’m not sure if I’ll actually be able to learn anything in any of my classes.” Ashlyn jokes, referencing how Megan continued her “keeper training” through algebra.  
  
“Yeah, I have that problem sometimes too.” Ali laughs, her nose crinkling up in a way that Ashlyn finds adorable.  
  
“So you know we have a game tonight, right? I mean you won’t play, but you should probably be there.” Ali lets her know.  
  
“Oh, yeah I got the schedule from coach yesterday.” Ashlyn nods in understanding.  
  
“Well afterwards were having a team sleepover at Lauren’s house. If you can come, that would be awesome.” Ali invites her, guessing no one else had thought to yet.  
  
“Why not. Where does she live? Isn’t it across the bridge?” Ash tries to think back to what they said yesterday.  
  
“Yeah. I could take you if you want. I mean since I live in Osborne too.” Ali mumbles.  
  
“Sure, sounds good. Here,” Ash scribbles down her address on a sheet of paper and tears it out to hand to Ali  
  
“Great. I’ll come get you after the game, let you get some stuff together.”  
  
The teacher clears her throat and the girls turn forward again, looking a little embarrassed but happy.  
  
When the bell rings Ali leads Ashlyn to the lunchroom and the soccer girls table.  
  
“Ash is coming to the team night!” Ali announces as she sits down in an empty seat. Ashlyn takes the one next to her, and smiles when the girls cheer to the news.  
  
“Cool, dude. Initiation night.” Tobin nods and Alex joins her with gleaming eyes.  
  
“I love initiation nights,” she claps her hands together in a way that scares Ashlyn into thinking about what they might have planned.  
  
“This isn’t going to be like some parent trap, skinny dipping shit, is it?”  
  
“Nah, we won’t make you take off your clothes.” HAO assures her, but Sydney’s look doesn’t make it seem convincing.  
  
“Right… I don’t think I can make it anymore after all.” Ashlyn says, to which Ali slaps her arm and rolls her eyes.  
  
“Don’t listen to them. It’s not bad, honestly.” That calms her down, although she would have come anyways. She really likes the team so far, and wants to get to know them better.  
  
“Alright, I guess I can go.” She smirks, but Ali bounces up and down in excitement again.  
  
“Hey Alex, what ever happened with that Servando kid who liked you?” Sydney asks her out of nowhere, making Alex’s eyes go wide and sputter.  
  
“I don’t know… Nothing.” She shrugs, but no one looks convinced. Ashlyn is probably the only one to notice the way Tobin picks at her sandwich and blushes, while everyone else is staring down Alex.  
  
“Really? I thought he was going to ask you out for sure last weekend.” Ali asks.  
  
“I mean I don’t really know him that well. He seems nice enough, I’m just not interested.” HAO nods in understanding.  
  
“Maybe you should get him to hit up your girl over here then, cause he is hot.” Sydney laughs and the tension lifts.  
  
“We’ll see.” Alex raises her eyebrows at her before turning back to her food.  
  
…  
  
After school, the team races to get ready for their game. Luckily it’s home which means they get to play at the only stadium in an hour ride radius. Ashlyn dresses out in practice gear, and warms up with the team, but during the game she sits on the bench. She spends her time watching the girls come together as a well-oiled team. Marveling in Alex’s speed, Tobin’s craftiness, Hope’s natural dominance, and Ali’s confidence, Ashlyn takes everything in that she thinks she might need to remember in the future.  
  
At the half, they’re winning 1-0, from a goal by Alex. It was a beautiful strike off her left foot after beating out two defenders. Ash gives her a high-five while they huddle up, and Alex just nods saying something about it’s her job. By the end of the game it is obvious just how far ahead the Quaker Valley girls are on skill level. They are winning 3-0, and it didn’t seem likely for the other team to score. Not only is the defense killing it, but also it feels like no one can make it past Hope.  
  
Ashlyn can tell that she could learn a lot from the older girl, and gets excited just thinking about practice on Monday. When the final whistle blows, a cheer echoes through the girls and they huddle up to chant,  
  
“Quake, quake, quake with fear cause this is our year!”  
  
“So what do you think?” Ali wipes some sweat from her brow and smiles at Ash.  
  
“You guys are amazing! Dynamite out there.”  
  
“Thanks! And from now on it’s we’re amazing.” Ali corrects her to include Ashlyn in the team.  
  
“Yes, ma’am.” Ashlyn salutes her with a smirk, and Ali rolls her eyes.  
  
“Let’s just go home. We have a party to get to!” Ali yells the last part for the whole team to hear, and it spreads like wildfire with whoops and fist pumping throughout the team.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party commences with drinks, and secrets being spilt.

By the time Kelley gets to the party, a tradition of practices and punishment means that most girls are already there and she takes advantage of this fact  
“Alright everyone! Enough moping, I have arrived!”  
  
“Boooo.” Tobin yells through cupped hands, while Megan throws an empty cup at her. Kelley easily dodges it, before making her way to the counter where she spots Hope.  
  
“Hey there hot stuff. Come here often?” she sidles up against Hope’s side with a cheesy pickup line.  
  
“Well I won’t be anymore.” Hope rolls her eyes, but doesn’t move. She hands Kelley a cup, who doesn’t even look to know it has beer in it.  
  
“Woah there. Is this alcohol? I am a minor.” Kelley widens her eyes, then takes a swig.  
  
“Oh you’re right, let me take that.” Hope starts to reach for it again, but Kelley backs up.  
  
“I mean one drink won’t kill me.”  
  
“I’m not so sure about that.” Tobin plucks the drink out of her hand as she walks up.  
  
“Hey Heath! Give that back, we all know you aren’t going to drink it anyways.” Kelley protests.  
  
“I might.”  
  
“She won’t. But I will.” Alex comes up and takes the drink from Tobin in order to take a sip.  
  
“You never know! I think I might actually have a few drinks tonight.” Tobin decides and goes over to the counter to get her own.  
  
“Hold up guys! Tobin’s going to drink tonight! Which, as we all know, means Tobin is getting drunnkkkk tonight.” Sydney makes an announcement as she hands Tobin her own cup.  
  
“I do not get drunk every time I drink.” Tobin scrunches her eyebrows together.  
  
“Yeah ya do, Tobs. But it’s alright. You’re a fun drunk. Very open.” Alex corrects her.  
  
“Look, newbie and Ali are here.” HAO shouts and everyone turns their attention to where Ashlyn and Ali are entering.  
  
“Yooo. Look who actually showed up. Thought you might chicken out on us.” Megan throws an arm around Ashlyn shoulders.  
  
“No way. Plus I heard there would be beer and I can’t say no to that.”  
  
“Oh good to know you like alcohol. That will come in handy in about an hour.” Megan smirks at her.  
  
Ashlyn has no response for that, but luckily Ali steers her away.  
  
“Hey.” Tobin leans over the counter in order to greet them both, and Ashlyn, feeling oddly at ease with Tobin, who seems to have that effect on most people, smiles.  
  
“What’s up, dude?” Ashlyn asks.  
  
“Oh just getting grilled on how I get drunk every time I drink apparently, but it’s definitely not true.”  
  
“Give it up, Tobs. We know it’s true, and the only reason you don’t is because you can’t remember what happened afterwards.” Alex rolls her eyes.  
  
“I bet Tobin’s the real friendly drunk, huh?” Ashlyn makes a guess, and judging by Kelley’s nod she’s right.  
  
“Yeah, like climb onto Alex’s lap and telling everyone they’re amazing, friendly.” Kelley remembers from last time.  
  
“She climbed on my lap?” Alex seems lost.  
  
“Don’t worry, you were drunk too, so I don’t think you minded. Although, I doubt you’d mind sober.” Kelley lowers her voice on the last sentence, but it has the affect she was hoping when Alex blushes.  
  
“Pass me a beer,” Ashlyn calls to Sydney who happily complies.  
  
…  
  
An hour later, after everyone whose drinking has gotten enough for a buzz, the group comes together to sit in the middle of the floor.  
  
“Now for the reason we are here tonight. To welcome our newest teammate to the group.” It’s Abby who starts the introduction, since she’s a captain.  
  
“Yeah, so we’ve all met Ashlyn by now, but we want to know more about her. Since you are a junior, we have three shots for you to take, and each shot must be paired with something we don’t know about you. But no lame stuff, or else we won’t count it and you have to redo the shot.” Megan explains before setting out the three glasses in front of Ashlyn.  
  
“And each shot is a different alcohol.” Kelley reminds them.  
  
“This is easy,” Ashlyn smirks before grabbing the first shot and pausing to think of her fact.  
  
“My parent’s almost sent me to boarding school after 8th grade year cause I started hanging out with a bad crowd.” She downs the shot smoothly.  
  
“Beer.” She notices what the first liquid was.  
  
“What does bad crowd mean?” Lauren asks, not satisfied with the vagueness.  
  
“You know, like drugs and drinking and things. I never got that far into it, but that’s only since I was starting to focus on football.” Ashlyn shrugs. She’s ashamed of that part of her life, but she never tries to hide it. If anything it made her realize what her ideals were, and how dedicated she could be to her passion.  
  
“Second thing. My number one dream is to be the first of my family to make it through college.” She downs the next one with a wince.  
  
“Vodka. Definitely.”  
  
“That’s actually really cool, Ash. You can do it too. Probably with scholarships.” Ali reaches over to touch her knee, and Ashlyn’s eyes land on her hand for as long as it stays there.  
  
“Yeah, I need the scholarships, but I’ll have to keep my grades up. That’s been a struggle for me in the past…” Ashlyn shrugs in admittance of the fact that she’s not the best academic wise.  
  
“Last thing, I’m just going to go with the fact that I’m gay.” She takes the last swig, and contains her cough at the end.  
  
“Tequila. Nice mixture you got there.” She eyes Megan and Sydney.  
  
“Yayy, another gay!” Megan hops up and does a little dance.  
  
The room is quiet besides Megan’s outburst and Ashlyn wonders if she made a mistake in telling them so soon, but her fear dissipates when Ali speaks up.  
  
“No one here will ever judge you, or think lesser of you because you’re gay. That I can promise, but it’s not the same with the rest of the school and community. You aren’t living in Philadelphia anymore,” She warns, but Ashlyn only shrugs. She’d faced narrow-minded people at her last school too, but it never stopped her from staying true to herself.  
  
“She’s right. It’s not easy being gay here. We all stood by Megan when she came out, and we defended her against everyone, and we would do the same for you, but it wasn’t pretty. At times, it was even scary.” Alex’s voice sounds far-off, as though she wasn’t just telling Ash this, but also herself. Tobin’s hand slides out into the small space between them and her fingertips brush against Alex’s. It’s a minute gesture that goes primarily unnoticed by the team, except for Kelley who started studying Alex closely whenever she spoke up.  
  
“I get it. This is a small town with small minded people, but I’m not willing to go back in time to where I was before. Being hidden isn’t an option for me anymore. I’ve accepted who I am, and that’s all that matters to me.” Ashlyn is confident in her choices.  
  
“Okay, well I think we can all agree that Ashlyn is well on her way to being a true member of the team, and also being drunk. Welcome to the family!” Sydney breaks the tension.  
  
“Now who wants to play never have I ever?” HAO suggests with a shrug, trying to help Sydney move the conversation along.  
  
“Yeah!” Kelley agrees.  
  
“This is stupid, I already know everything about everyone.” Megan points out.  
  
“You never know. Just do it.” Kelley pushes her.  
  
A few minutes later they all have a different amount of fingers up, as they try to think of something to trip the others up.  
  
“Never have I ever… punched anyone in the face.” Becky says after some deliberation.  
  
“Does that douchebag count as a person?” Abby asks with a sarcastic tone.  
  
“Barely, but yeah.” Becky confirms with a laugh.  
  
“My turn. Never have I ever failed a class.” Bue says and waits for a couple people to drop their fingers.  
  
“The genius picking on us dumb folks.” Sydney rolls her eyes. They all know that the only class she ever failed was home ec in 8th grade because she refused to conform to the standards that society placed upon her as a woman. That was the story she gave them at least.  
  
“I have a good one. Never have I ever kissed another girl.” Sydney gives hers next and all the people she expects to, drop a finger including Megan, Abby, Ashlyn, Kelley and Hope. But unexpectedly she notices both Tobin and Alex gingerly put theirs down.  
  
“AYEE! Alex, who did you kiss?” Sydney gets excited to learn something new about her teammates.  
  
“I didn’t necessarily kiss her. I’d say she kissed me.” Alex shrugs.  
  
“Didn’t look like you were complaining.” Tobin smirks out, and the recognition that ripples through the room is visible on each face.  
  
“No way! You two? Since when?” Abby asks since she has very few boundaries when it comes to her friends.  
  
“Well I guess yesterday. Sort of. But it’s not like a really real thing.” Alex bites her lip.  
  
“What does that mean? Really real? Are you guys together or is Alex still up for grabs?” Megan cocks an eyebrow.  
  
“No, she’s definitely not.” Tobin asserts, and Alex blushes before agreeing with her.  
  
“We don’t know what we’re doing yet, but we know there’s something happening…” Alex explains vaguely.  
  
“Well congrats then. Already one step ahead of those two!” HAO points at Kelley and Hope, causing Hope to scowl and Kelley to blush.  
  
“I knew something was different with you guys. Didn’t I say that, Hope?” Kelley speaks up and directs the attention away from her.  
  
“Might have come up.” Hope shrugs.  
  
“Whatever you say, Kel.” Tobin raises her eyebrows.  
  
“I did! Yesterday! Ask Ali, she was there too.” Kelley contends, looking at Ali to back her up.  
  
“Maybe during the warm-up yesterday?” Ali scrunches up her nose while trying to think back, ”I was a little distracted, sorry Kel.”  
  
“I remember. That was before they kicked you out.” Ashlyn laughs, and Kelley smiles with her victory.  
  
“I guess I can’t get distracted by myself” Ash winks at Ali.  
  
“Somehow I doubt that’s true.” Ali smirks back with a light tone that leaves Ashlyn’s teeth showing as her lips curl up on their own accord.  
  
“I have a feeling you and I will get along really well.” Megan nods at Ashlyn after her little flirtatious interaction.  
  
“Just what I always wanted!” Ashlyn claps her hands together once in a mock excitement.  
  
“Bitch, I know that wasn’t sarcasm.” Megan raises her eyebrows in a pointed expression that makes everyone laugh.  
  
…  
  
The night goes on with more shenanigans until around 3 when people start to pass out. No one mentions how Kelley ends up sharing a recliner with Hope, although Alex does make a point to snap a picture for future reference, and then she finds a pillow and blanket for Tobin, who in fact does end up wasted.  
  
She wraps the blanket around herself first, before laying down next to Tobin and throwing it over her passed out form.  
  
Everywhere Ashlyn turns there are girls sleeping, or whispering to each other, but she still feels new and awkward, like her piece doesn’t fit into their puzzle. Luckily, Ali sees her struggling, and moves over closer to Megan and motions for Ashlyn to come.  
  
“Thanks…” Ashlyn mumbles as she hugs a pillow closer to her body.  
  
“It’s okay. It must be hard trying to find your place in a seemingly complete team,” Ali notes as she turns on her side to look at her.  
  
“It’s weird. I’ve never had to do this before.” Ash shrugs.  
  
“Well trust me, you have a place here now.” Ali yawns and her eyes droop closed, so she doesn’t see how Ashlyn sparkles at her and smiles before letting her own eyelids fall and drifts off to sleep.  
  
…  
  
“Morning sunshines!” Sydney sings loudly.  
  
“Ugh, how are you awake?” Lauren throws a pillow at her which falls short.  
  
“I’m not a lightweight like you pansies.” Sydney explains, while also managing to insult everyone else.  
  
“Guys, why the heck did you let me drink last night?” Tobin groans and turns over to bury her face in Alex’s shoulder.  
  
“Because when you’re drunk you say things like why the fuck, instead of why the heck.” Megan points out from her position next to Ali.  
  
“Mhph” Tobin says something that doesn’t carry out of the crook of Alex’s neck.  
  
“Right…” Megan nods, as if anyone understood what Tobs said.  
  
“What time is it?” Lauren looks for her phone to check, “Better not be earlier than 10 or I’ll fuck a bitch up.”  
  
“So mean in the a.m…” Sydney acts insulted before continuing her song to wake the rest of the team.  
  
“Alright, let’s wake up before my parents come in offering muffins again.” Lauren sits up and looks around to survey the damage they’d have to pick up.  
  
“Not too bad honestly,” Alex notices what Lauren is doing, “Shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes if we get everyone functional.”  
  
“That means coffee.” Ali adds her input from a still horizontal position.  
  
“Wake up the newbie,” Alex points at Ashlyn.  
  
“I’m awake. Impossible not to be with this crowd.” Ashlyn doesn’t open her eyes as she mutter her reply.  
  
“That’s how it works, first they keep you up till 3, then wake you up at 9. Normal.” Tobin shrugs. Her eyes are squinted up to prevent too much light, and her hands are pressed against her temples.  
  
“Tobs… Honestly, every time.” Alex sighs as she brushes hair out of Tobin’s face.  
  
“I know, sorry.” Tobin sighs with admittance.  
  
“You kidding, don’t be sorry! You’re way more fun drunk,” Megan interjects.  
  
“That’s not true, I like you when you’re sober.” Alex responds to Tobin’s pouty face.  
  
“Yeah? I’d have never guessed.” She leans into quickly kiss Alex’s lips.  
  
“Well, I don’t like you when you’re a smartass.” Alex rolls her eyes.  
  
“I think that’s a lie.” Tobin remarks as she stands up to help.  
  
Soon the whole team has been awoken, and are given marching orders to clean the guest house. After a lot of groaning and swearing, they get it done fairly quickly and even manage to make a couple pots of coffee for their hangovers. As expected, Lauren’s mom comes in offering breakfast which they quickly accept amongst a flourish of thank yous and love yous directed at Lauren’s mom.  
  
Ashlyn eats her muffin slowly, picking it apart, while the observes that after last night she feels less like an outsider, and more like a friend to the group. It wasn’t quite like family yet, but they all seemed to figure on that being the inevitable.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashlyn has to step up to the plate big time.

At practice on Monday, Coach is right back at it again. They cycle through several drills before splitting into teams.  
  
“5 v. 5, I pick.” He splits them all up into two teams and then picks out the first 10 to play. The girls felt more confident on either team, which was different from before, now that they had an actually skilled goalkeeper on each side.  
  
“UP! UP! UP!” Ashlyn yelled at her players, this was the first time they got to experience her in a game-like environment and she is loud. She uses her arms to gesture and screams instructions from the her spot in the box.  
  
No one really knows how it happens, only that Hope goes for a save she’s done a thousand times, and then she isn’t getting up. She clutches her shoulder and her face screws up in obvious pain. It only takes a second for Coach to blow his whistle and keep everyone from crowding, although Kelley doesn’t listen and slides in to kneel by Hope’s head.  
  
“What happened?” Coach asks while motioning for one of the other girls to get the trainer.  
  
Alex runs off at full sprint, and the team groups together nervously whispering.  
  
“Landed wrong. It’s bad.” Everyone knows to wait for an official diagnosis, but if Hope says it’s bad then there wasn’t much doubt.  
  
Hope gets helped to her feet and carted off the field, wincing and hissing at every movement.  
  
Coach dismisses them from practice right after that with a promise of news being sent to them.  
  
“What if she’s out for the season?” Kelley whispers while they sit in the locker room.  
  
“Let’s wait and actually hear the injury first.” Abby tries to reason, but the whole team looks somber. Megan speaks up then,  
  
“Well at least we have Ashlyn now.” Ashlyn had been trying to remain invisible, and looks startled at her name.  
  
“What?”  
  
“I mean, whether it’s for a game or the season, at least we have another keeper, right?” Megan looks around and receives nods in return.  
  
Ali lets her hand fall on Ash’s knee and gives it a tight squeeze to show her vote of confidence, then redraws it to her own lap.  
  
“Look, I’m no Hope. I know that, you guys know that, but I promise to give everything I have for this team.” Ashlyn bites her lip, and a few girls give her a smile.  
  
“We know.” Tobin replies, meeting her eyes with a solid look.  
  
“Great, so we won’t lose every game. What about Hope? We have no idea how bad this is; what if it affects her college game?” Carli stands up indignantly.  
  
“Calm down, Carli. We’re all worried. We all care about Hope.” Lauren puts a hand on Carli’s shoulder and reassures her.  
  
And it’s true, they’ve all thought about what it might mean. They all saw the worst case scenarios swirling around Hope’s body like a swarm of bees waiting to strike.  
  
Sydney is the first one to stand and leave. Her mother was there to pick her up, so she had no choice, but her departure sparked them all realizing there was no point sitting in a locker room.  
  
“Shit, I forgot to tell my mom when we came in. I’ll have to wait awhile now,” Ashlyn pulls out her phone.  
  
“Let me take you home. Since we live close by,” Ali offers with a shrug and Ashlyn smiles in response.  
  
“Yeah sure. Thanks.” They walk out to Ali’s car and watch as most the team does the same except a few underclassmen who have to wait. This includes Tobin and Alex who are holding hands, confident that only the team is around to see them. Once in Ali’s car Ashlyn begins to talk again,  
  
“I think they’re cute. Tobin and Alex. I mean I don’t know them that well, but I feel the history between them.” She brings it up as a casual conversation, and Ali nods in agreement.  
  
“They’ve been friends since kindergarten. A lot of people around here grow up together, but often times you switch groups and friends. Not those two. Them and Kelley have been the three musketeers since elementary.” Ali explains their story as she knows it.  
  
“Wow, that is a really cute story. Doesn’t get much better than that one,” Ashlyn laughs and Ali giggles along.  
  
“I guess not. Kelley and Hope have a good one too though, even if they won’t admit it. Hope was going through a tough time last year. Family problems, and she was having trust issues. No one knows how Kelley managed to worm her way into Hope’s life, because she mostly just used cheesy pick-up lines and did dramatic reenactments of Shakespeare. Somewhere amongst the joking, they actually started to talk I guess.” Ali gives another history lesson for Ashlyn. It feels strange to her that she has to explain it, since there hadn’t been anyone new in her life for a long time. It doesn’t feel bad though. In fact, sharing stories, asking questions and explaining things makes her feel important and interesting.  
  
“So tell me Ali, what’s your story?” Ashlyn suddenly asks, as if she got tired of other people and needed to hear something more personal.  
  
“What do you mean?” Ali asks for clarification.  
  
“Like your life, your dreams, your insecurities, and your fears. I want to know more about you.”  
  
Ali begins to blush as the spotlight heats up her face with its intense beams.  
  
“I don’t know. I grew up here and I love it. But I hope to go away for college. Somewhere good, and different. I think I’ll end up back here though. It’s kind of relieving to have such a solid outlook for my future but at the same time I’m afraid it’s too boring. I want to have exciting adventures, find myself somewhere I’d never think to look, fall in love. It’s not entirely outlandish, but right now in small little Osborne, it feels like it.” Ali hears herself spewing out the thoughts that circle in the dark and small spaces of her mind, the thoughts she’s repressed in hopes that by doing so she’ll forget them, and be happy where she is.  
  
“So you’re afraid to fall into the cycle, and never make it out.” Ash perfectly sums up what Ali was trying to express, and it makes Ali ten times lighter to know that someone knows and understands.  
  
“Exactly.”  
  
“Well, I know I haven’t known you very long, but from what I can tell, you’re anything but a follower. I think you’ll break the cycle, have your adventures, find yourself, and hopefully along the way someone will have the privilege of having you fall in love with them.” The way Ash speaks is laced with such conviction that Ali starts to believe her.  
  
“How do you do that?” Ali blurts out after a moment of silence.  
  
“Do what?” Ash seems confused.  
  
“Know exactly what to say. I can barely string together a few words in English class that sound half as good as what you say.”  
  
“Oh. Talent I guess,” Ashlyn laughs, “Not really. I just spend a lot of time thinking about other people and their lives so that I have none left to worry about my own.” Ali turns the corner into Ash’s driveway and parks the car.  
  
“If you ever feel like taking on your own life, and want some help, then I’d be happy to be here.” Ali faces Ashlyn as she offers her time and ears.  
  
“Thank you, but I doubt you’d feel the same way after one hour listening to me.”  
  
“I disagree. I think you’re the most fascinating that’s happened to me in years, and that might not sound like much coming from someone who lives in small town USA, but it’s true.”  
  
Ashlyn opens the door and scrambles out quickly. Her voice is a little scratchier when she speaks again,  
  
“I think you’ve got this all wrong, Kriegs. But I might just take you up on that offer one day.”  
  
Ali waves out the window as Ashlyn walks up her driveway and is met at the door by a woman who must be her mom. The lady waves at her before Ali backs out and heads to her own house.  
  
…  
  
The week progresses with the team adjusting to a new starting keeper once Hope is officially ruled out for a good 6 weeks. The trainers are hopeful that she won’t need surgery as long as she rests, so the team has been on vigilant watch to make sure she follows orders. One defender has taken it upon herself to be Hope’s personal bodyguard, and assistant to nobody’s surprise. Kelley escorts her to all of her classes, despite the fact that they have none in common since Hope is a senior and Kelley is a sophomore. Normally everyone would assume that the babying would bother Hope, but she seems to put up with it when the perpetrator has freckles and sparkly eyes.  
  
“So Kelley, how’s Hope doing?” Alex asks her in their English class.  
  
“Good. She’s frustrated, but besides that good.” Kelley answers quickly.  
  
“Frustrated, huh? Thought you’d have helped her with that.” Tobin leans across Alex’s desk to put in her comment.  
  
“Shut up, Heath. I don’t know if you remember but I now have pretty good ammunition for my own jokes.” Kelley glances between Alex, who had unconsciously leaned toward Tobin, and Tobin’s smug smile.  
  
The couple blush simultaneously and Tobin starts to sputter.  
  
“Draw.” She finally gets out.  
  
“For now.”  
  
…

The next game sneaks up on the team and surprises them all when Friday comes. No one is as nervous as Ashlyn though.  
  
She stretches out her arms in front of her throughout class randomly, her feet pattering below her in quick motion, and phantom directions being muttered.  
  
“Hey calm down, Ash.” Ali laughs and put a hand on her jiggling knee to stop it from shaking the whole table. This only causes Ashlyn’s heart rate to increase, and her words to fail her altogether.  
  
“Um, calm down. Yeah, sorry.” Ash nods slowly when she processes Ali’s words.  
  
“You’ll do fine. Now eat,” Ali points to the untouched sandwich sitting on the lunch table.  
  
“I can’t do fine. Fine won’t win!” Ashlyn takes a bite and swallows before continueing, “Hope wasn’t fine, she was amazing. So I need to at least be good.”  
  
“No one here wants you to be another Hope. Hope is injured, all I want right now is Ashlyn.” Ali looks her in the eyes, and suddenly Ash doesn’t feel as much pressure building in her.  
  
“Yeah, listen to Ali. She’s pretty smart.” Alex smiles from across the lunchboxes and brown sacks.  
  
“I’m beginning to figure that out.” She replies, smiling at Ali.  
  
“Shush, you’ll make me blush.” Ali laughs at both Alex and Ash.  
  
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to win.” Sydney leans in with a glint in her eye that only comes out on game days.  
  
“Hell yeah we are!” Heather fist pumps, badly.  
  
“Then I guess we should get through these next couple of classes.” Tobin sighs and starts to throw away some of the trash.  
  
“Take mine too, Tobs?” Alex looks up at her through her eyelashes and Tobin blushes before fumbling with Alex’s empty water bottle.  
  
“Whipppedd.” Sydney says as soon as Tobin is back.  
  
“What ever, Syd. It’s just some trash,” Tobin rolls her eyes, but then thinks back to how she carried Alex’s books without her asking earlier, and held the door open, and even asked her if she thought her shoes matched on the ride over.  
  
“You aren’t whipped, Tobin. You’re just a good girlfriend.” Alex leans in and whispers to her.  
  
“Hmm.” Tobin hums and tilts her head toward Alex’s voice.  
  
“Okay, gross! Off to class, both of you.” Ali points at them both with a strict stare while they get up and leave the cafeteria.  
  
…  
  
“Just remember who we are, what we stand for, and how hard you worked. Then play a little soccer.” Coach Tom ends his pregame speech in front of the quiet group of girls.  
  
They all line up and trek out onto the field to begin the game. The other team is bigger, in both stature and team size, but they’re not known for their technical skill.  
  
The game starts off well, most of it being played on the Quaker Valley attacking front. When the other team does get it into their side though the defenders are quick to clear it, so Ashlyn hasn’t had much actual action yet. She’s antsy, waiting.  
  
Somehow a little blonde girl manages to get a breakaway and Ashlyn can see the shot coming. She prepares herself for it, and dives into the line of the ball as soon as it leaves the blonde’s foot. She manages to wrap her arms around it and gets to her feet. There’s screaming from the bench as she smiles widely at her first save on the team. After the ball is sent to Alex’s feet again, Ash sees Ali gives her a quick thumbs up and her smile returns momentarily.  
  
The first half ends with no goals by either team, and this is making the forwards antsy. Alex can feel a goal coming, striking her foot then past the keeper’s hands. Tobin sees the look in her eyes and makes a silent vow to get the ball to Alex at every opportunity. Sydney gets subbed in for Abby at the half, so the team is going for pure speed to beat at the bulky defenders. It’s the 68th minute when Tobin manages to beat out her defenders and slot the ball into Alex, and her determination pays off when the ball hits the back of the net. Everyone’s yelling and Alex runs straight to Tobs and grabs her in celebration.  
  
In the end the score is 2-0 by a corner from HAO to Syd.  
  
“Good game ladies! You really pulled it out in that second half. Also, good job Ashlyn. Not a bad debut, a shutout.” Coach congratulates them all before dismissing them to go to their families.  
  
“Hear that Ash? Not bad.” Ali smirks at Ashlyn.  
  
“I had some help,” she shrugs in return before scanning the ground.  
  
“So um Ali, what are you doing tomorrow?” Ashlyn asks hesitantly.  
  
“Nothing that I know of.” Ali takes a drink of water after she replies.  
  
“Then do you want to hang out? I don’t really know what to do around town, but I’m up for anything if you want.” Ashlyn spits everything out in a quick breath.  
  
“Yeah! I’d love to. I can show you around town. All the insider spots,” Ali’s eyes sparkles as she agrees enthusiastically.  
  
“Awesome, that’s sounds great. What time?”  
  
“I can pick you up at 11? Spends all day exploring.” Ali suggests.  
  
“I’ll see you at 11.” Ash tilts her head with a smile, agreeing.  
  
Her smile doesn’t fade the entire ride home with her parents, or when she picks out her outfit for tomorrow. Not even when she climbs into bed and finally falls asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

“Where are you going exactly?” Ashlyn’s mom asks her for the tenth time since she found out Ash would be gone all day.  
“I don’t know. Ali said she was going to show me around town,” Ash sighs and explains again.  
  
“Well is this a date?” She presses more.  
  
“No! We’re just friends, Mom.” Ashlyn blushes and starts to get up when she notices Ali’s car coming.  
  
“Don’t forget a jacket!”  
  
“I don’t need a jacket.” Ashlyn protests while trying to escape out the door.  
  
“Just in case.” Her mom hands her one anyways and she takes it so she can leave.  
  
“Bye, Mom.” She waves and spins around to walk over to Ali’s car.  
  
“Hey there.” She smiles and slides into the seat.  
  
“Hey yourself. How are you?” Ali responds chipperly.  
  
“Pretty good, ready to discover this place!”  
  
They set off towards the main part of town where Ali takes them to their first stop, the One-Stop Wonder.  
  
“It’s the best coffee in town, I promise. Plus Dan’s a nice man.” Ali explains as they walk into the store. There’s a couple of people wandering the aisles and two men standing by a counter sipping from coffee cups and talking to a friendly looking man.  
  
“Hey there Ali! Here for the usual fixings?” The man smiles when he sees her.  
  
“Yep! Also I’m showing Ashlyn around town. She just moved here from Philadelphia.” Ali explains and sits down to chat.  
  
“Nice to meet you, hun. Anything for you today?” Dan offers a handshake and some customer service.  
  
“Nice to meet you too, sir. I’ll have whatever Ali gets, please.” Ashlyn doesn’t even think twice about her order.  
  
“So polite! This one was raised right.” One of the men at the counter laughs.  
  
“I’m Terry and I work at the auto shop.” He introduces himself.  
  
“Terry helped me fix up my car when I bought it.” Ali says and smiles gratefully at the man.  
  
“Well then I should thank you. Ali’s been carting me around practically since we met.” Ashlyn laughs and so does Terry.  
  
“Ali’s always been nice like that,” Dan hands them both steaming cups of coffee.  
  
They chat idly waiting for their drinks to cool a bit and then Ash takes a sip.  
  
“Woahh. How long have you been drinking this strong of coffee, Al? No wonder you’re the energizer bunny on the field!” Ashlyn’s eyes go wide when the strength hits her.  
  
“Whoops yeah, I guess it’s strong.” Ali laughs, she’s so used to it by now that she didn’t think to warn Ash.  
  
“Here ya go girls, on the house.” Dan hands them a plate of biscuits with jam on the side.  
  
“Thank you!” Ashlyn isn’t used to this kind of neighborly feeling in a store, but she’s loving it.  
  
After a few minutes the girls are laughing at each other and eating the warm biscuits. Their cups are almost empty and crumbs are sprinkled around them.  
  
“Oh you got some jam on your face.” Ashlyn laughs and gestures to Ali’s face. Ali licks around her moouth but misses the spot.  
  
“Nope. Here,” Ashlyn uses her napkin to wipe it off gently.  
  
This earns them a strange look from Terry and the other man and Ali shoots up from her seat and takes some money from her wallet and drops it on the counter.  
  
“For the coffee, Dan. Come on, Ash.” Ali mumbles and pulls Ashlyn out of the store quickly. Ashlyn furrows her eyebrows at the quick exit, and slowly walks to her side of the car, staring at Ali’s red face. She doesn’t say anything though.  
  
“Where to next?” Ashlyn finally asks.  
  
“Surprise.” Ali smiles as though nothing happened.  
  
“Oh no fair. I wouldn’t know what it was if you told me anyways, remember?”  
  
“Okay, Mudpie.” Ali says.  
  
“What?” Ashlyn doesn’t understand.  
  
“That’s what it’s called.”  
  
“Oh see. Told you I wouldn’t know.” Ashlyn laughs.  
  
“I just forget that you’re not from here.” Ali shrugs.  
  
“Cause it feels like you’ve known me forever?” Ashlyn nudges her with sarcasm in her voice.  
  
“Maybe not forever, but longer than it has been.” Ali actually admits while biting her lip. Ashlyn’s mouth opens but then she closes it without saying anything.  
  
“We’re here.” Ali parks the car again.  
  
“The pottery place.” Ashlyn reads quizzically.  
  
“Come on. You’ll like it.” Ali unbuckles and hops out quickly. Ashlyn follows her into the brick building where inside it’s warm and the walls are covered with shelves while the middle is just tables.  
  
“Pick out something to paint.” Ali instructs.  
  
They walk around and look at all the things to paint. Ali finally decides on a coffee mug, and then turns to see what Ash has picked out.  
  
“A soccer ball bank?” She laughs at her choice.  
  
“Hell yeah!”  
  
“You’re a child. Go pick out your colors.” They get everything they need, sitting at a table to begin.  
  
“I figured you’d be better at this,” Ash comments when they’re about halfway done.  
  
“Hey! This is fabulous.” Ali protests, looking at her now pink mug.  
  
“Well.” Ashlyn trails off which leads to Ali taking her paintbrush and swiping her hand.  
  
“Just kidding!” Ash pulls away laughing. She has a baby pink line on her now though, so it’s too late anyways.  
  
“Is that Ali I see?” A woman enters into the store with a smile.  
  
“Hi, Molly!” Ali smiles, “This is Ashlyn.”  
  
“Hello, Ashlyn. What are you girls up to?” Molly asks. Ashlyn raises her eyebrows at Ali, wondering who this lady was.  
  
“I’m showing Ash around and I thought your place was a good stop.” Ali answers both questions at once.  
  
“Well thank you! It’s been awhile since you’ve come in.”  
  
“Sorry… It’s been pretty hectic lately. But I wanted to help Ashlyn out since she’s new to town.” Ali smiles at Ashlyn and nudges her foot under the table. Ashlyn blushes at this, and continues painting the grass around her soccer ball.  
  
“What do you think of our little town so far?” Molly asks.  
  
“I think it’s amazing! Everyone’s so nice. And I’ve had an amazing tour guide,” Ashlyn beams in return.  
  
“You know I had Tobin and Alex in here on Wednesday. I hadn’t seen those girls since they were probably 6! It was nice to see they’re still best friends.” Molly remembers suddenly.  
  
“Yep! Just as inseparable as ever. Ashlyn can attest to that too.” Ali laughs.  
  
“Mhhm.” Ashlyn nods.  
  
“That’s great. I’ll let you girls continue.” She goes into a back room.  
  
“I’m an amazing tour guide?” Ali teases.  
  
“I mean maybe not amazing. But you’re pretty cute, so it makes up for it.” Ashlyn winks and Ali laughs, her nose crinkling up.  
  
“Are you almost done?” she asks, looking at the bank.  
  
“Yeah!”  
  
“Good cause I’m hungry again.” Ali comments and clutches her stomach.  
  
“Why am I not surprised?” Ash rolls her eyes.  
  
“Don’t. You have no room to talk and you know it.”  
  
The pair finishes shortly and put their creations on the cart so they can be fired.  
  
“Bye Molly!” Ali calls after they pay.  
  
“So what’s for lunch?” Ashlyn asks.  
  
“Why ask when you know I won’t answer?” She sasses back.  
  
“Touche.”  
  
A park. That’s where they end up and Ashlyn is definitely confused.  
  
“Picnic. Tobin, Alex, Kelley, Hope, Lauren and Sydney are here somewhere too.” Ali explains then takes a cooler out of her backseat.  
  
“Oh! Awesome.” Ashlyn nods and scans the park till she spots her teammates around some tables playing some pick-up.  
  
“They’ve arrived!” Kelley spots the two girls first.  
  
“Finally! Now we can eat,” Sydney moans.  
  
“Blame Ali. She took forever on her mug,” Ashlyn raises her eyebrows.  
  
“I did not. I just wanted it to be good.” Ali defends her painting skills.  
  
“You should take Alex then! We went there earlier this week and i finished a good 30 minutes before her.” Tobin laughs.  
  
“That’s not fair! You painted a cross orange with stripes. I painted a plate.” Alex sticks out her tongue at Tobin.  
  
“Yeah, Molly mentioned you guys were there.” Ali thinks of how Molley brought them up.  
  
“Of course she didn’t know it was a date,” Ashlyn smirks.  
  
Alex blushes a little bit and Tobin runs a hand through her hair.  
  
“No, guess she didn’t.” Alex says.  
  
“Hey, Ali pass out the stuff already!” Sydney brings her back to the cooler that’s sitting next to her feet.  
  
“Gosh, patience child. Here,” Ali rolls her eyes and pulls out some sandwiches and bowls of fruit.  
  
“Are you like the mommy of the pack?” Ashlyn laughs at how Ali appears .  
  
“Hell yeah she is! Best team mom ever.” Tobin throws a grape into the air to catch, but Lauren snatches before it makes it to her mouth.  
  
“Jerk.” Tobin mutters and takes another grape.  
  
The girls eat lunch then start messing around with the soccer ball that Alex brought. It’s almost 4 by the time they’re done hanging out in that park, and they start splitting up.  
  
“Laurennn! Take Alex and I home please?” Tobin gives her best puppy dog eyes and succeeds when Lauren sighs and nods.  
  
“Yeah! You can drop us both off at my house. My mom will take Alex home when she gets back later.”  
  
“Ohhh, so you’ll be alone at the house then?” Sydney elbows Alex with and eyes her with a smirk.  
  
“No, her brother is there.” Alex rolls her eyes.  
  
“No, he’s…” Tobin starts but Alex kicks the ball into Tobin’s shin shutting her up.  
  
“Alright, see you guys later losers!” Ashlyn calls as her and Ali get into Ali’s car.  
  
“Bye!” They call and wave to them.  
  
“So was that the grand finale, or is there more?” Ashlyn asks curiously.  
  
Ali smiles and bites her lip, “Oh, there’s more.”  
  
“Well then let’s go!”  
  
It’s only a couple more minutes of driving until Ali turns onto a obviously older street that’s heading to the river.  
  
It ends next at a dead end and Ali parks the car.  
  
“Are you going to murder me down here…” Ashlyn whispers, but her mouth is smiling.  
  
Ali shakes her head with a laugh, “Not today.”  
  
They get out of the car and Ali leads Ashlyn down a little trail for a few minutes. It opens up at an old train bridge that looks steady and crosses the swift river underneath.  
  
“This is the Old Track. It’s like the spot for high schoolers. Everyone has to discover it on their own though. It’s like a tradition that once you go into 9th grade the hunt begins for the famous Old Track. I guess technically you cheated since I showed you, but I figured it was justified… Anyways, come on.” Ali grabs her hand and leads her out on the metal rails. They sit down in the middle and let their legs dangle under the siderails.  
  
“Wow. This is pretty awesome.” Ashlyn sighs and stares down at the water. It’s starting to get darker, and she has a feeling the stars are amazing here. A breeze passes over them and it’s enough to make Ali shiver. She’s wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, but it seems light to Ash, so she shrugs off the jacket that her mom made her take, and hands it to Ali.  
  
“Thanks, you don’t have to though.” Ali hesitantly takes it, looking at Ash’s arms.  
  
“It’s okay, I’m hot blooded.” But her arms already have goosebumps, so Ali scoots closer and puts the other side of the jacket across her shoulder. This forces them to be touching on every spot on the side of their bodies, and Ali’s shivers again even though she’s not cold anymore.  
  
“I’m going to ask to do something now, but you can say no.” Ashlyn warns, and Ali nods.  
  
“Can I hold your hand?” She almost whispers, afraid of the answer, but Ali just laces their fingers together and squeezes.  
  
“Yes. I’d like it if you did.” She smiles sweetly and leans her head onto Ashlyn’s shoulder.  
  
“I know that I like you a lot, Ali. But I can’t stop thinking of what you and Alex said at the sleepover. And I understand that this might be different for you.” Ashlyn speaks after a couple of minutes just sitting together.  
  
“It is. Different. And I’m not going to lie, it’s scary. But I like you too. Just know that,” Ali lifts her head up to look at Ashlyn’s eyes.  
“Okay. I have another question,”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“You don’t know the question,” Ashlyn laughs.  
  
“Kiss me already.” Ali rolls her eyes, and Ashlyn nods with a smile before leaning in and pressing her lips to Ali’s softly. Their hands are still interwined, but the jacket falls off both their shoulders and the breeze ruffles Ali’s hair. She doesn’t care though. She just smiles into the kiss, before pressing their lips together again with more force.  
  
“Is Ali your whole name?” Ashlyn asks. They’ve been laying on the tracks for awhile now, the stars are all out and the only thing keeping them warm is each other.  
  
“Nope. Alexandra Blaire Krieger.” Ali responds.  
  
“Isn’t Alex’s name Alexandra too?”  
  
“Yeah. My family calls me Alex.” Ali nods.  
  
“Do you like it? Being called Alex?” Ashlyn asks her voice curious.  
  
“I do actually. It feels familiar ya know? Like I can tell that whoever calls me that really cares about me.” She admits.  
  
“I care about you, Alex.”  
  
“I know.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am aware that Ali's parents are divorced but for the purpose of my story they are not. I mean it's pretty AU anyways...

Ashlyn isn’t exactly sure how long they spent lying on that bridge, but eventually Ali sits up and they walk hand in hand to her car. The ride back to their neighborhood is the longest one yet, and the quietest as neither felt the need to speak just yet. What ever it is that they’ve uncovered is still too young and fresh for there to be any issues. Those would have to wait for later, because tonight they simply kiss once more in the warmth of Ali’s car before Ashlyn is forced to step out into the increasingly chilly temperatures. Ali drives home and lets herself into the back door. She still has Ashlyn’s jacket on, so she quickly stuffs it into the covers of her bed before her mom even notices her.  
  
“Hey, Alex. How was your day?”  
  
“It was really fun! I think Ash had a good time too, plus we met up with some of the girls for awhile.”  
  
“That sounds nice. I really love that you’re helping Ashlyn to blend in with the group. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for her to adjust to Osborne life.” Her mom rubs Ali’s back and smiles.  
  
“She’s actually doing really well. Everyone loves her. She’s so funny, she fits right in wit the team.” Ali gushes.  
  
“I’d love to really meet her. How about you invite her over for dinner tomorrow? It’s strange not knowing one of your friends.” She suggests and Ali agrees quickly. They say goodnight and retreat to their rooms.  
  
Ali texts Ash right away,  
  
“Hey! I had such an amazing day with you…  
  
Do you want to come to dinner tomorrow? My mom wants to meet you.”

There’s a moment before the little three dots pop up showing Ashlyn’s responding and then Ali gets her reply.

Ashlyn  
iMessage  
“I had fun too! I’d love to come to dinner. What time?”

“We usually eat at 6… I could come pick you up at 5 though”

Ashlyn  
iMessage  
“Awesome(: Night Ali”

“Goodnight(:”

…

The next morning Ali tells her mom that Ashlyn was coming tonight, while Ashlyn told her parents about her invite. Then like almost every family in town, Ali fit herself into the backseat of her dad’s car and they headed off to church. Walking in she runs into Lauren and Tobin, whose family’s had gotten there early to pass out bulletins and they walk in together.  
  
“Tobin! Mom said to follow you.” Her younger brother Jeffrey bumps into them from behind and grabs the back of Tobin’s jacket.  
  
“Alright well scoot in then.” Tobs allows him to sit on the other side of her, before turning back to their conversation.  
  
“When we get out, do you guys want to go down to the fields?” She asks.  
  
“I don’t think I can… Maybe Alex and Kelley will go with you though.” Lauren nods at their friends who had just walked into the sanctuary. Alex’s face lights up when she sees Tobin and everyone slides over so Alex is squished between Lauren and her, while Kelley sits at the edge.  
  
“I see how it is, Morgan. Can’t even sit next to me anymore?” Kelley shakes her head dramatically, but Alex mumbles an apology anyways.  
  
“Hey.” Tobin breathes out whenever Alex turns back towards her. Just then Jeffrey speaks up,  
  
“Tobs, I don’t want to sit here with all your chick friends.” He moans and Tobin rolls her eyes.  
  
“Really? I thought you loved us Jeff! I mean we think you’re cool. Right, Tobs? We talk about you all the time.” Alex teases him, then lowers her voice, “I think Kelley even like likes you.”  
  
“Stop getting his hopes up, you tease.” Tobin laughs.  
  
“Besides it’s you who has a thing for Heaths.” Kelley smirks, the joke flies over Jeffrey’s head, but the girls all laugh.  
  
The sermon starts soon after and all of Tobin’s attention is focused on that, although Alex can’t help but notice how Tobin has naturally gotten even closer to Alex so their arms are pressed against each other. Alex leans into the touch, eyes shining when Tobin glances at her with a sweet smile. This is what she loves about her best friend, she can be so passionate about things. Alex suddenly decides to lean toward Tobin and whispers so only Tobin can hear,  
  
“I love you, my beautiful girl.”  
  
Tobin’s eyes crinkle with a smile, but she keeps staring forward in order to prevent herself from kissing Alex right then.  
  
…  
  
“See you guys tomorrow!” Ali calls to the small group as she walks away with her parents. It is 11 now, so she’ll have to eat and then help her mom get ready for Ashlyn coming to dinner. She’s not very nervous yet, so far everyone who’s met Ashlyn has loved her, so why would her parents be any different?  
  
...  
  
“Can you get out the placemats for me, darling?” Ali’s mom directs her as they get ready. There was bread baking in the oven, and a pot roast almost ready in a crockpot.  
  
“Sure thing, but then I need to go pick up Ashlyn.” Ali sets the table quickly, and then looks around for her keys. She spots them on the table and slips on her nikes and a jacket.  
  
“Okay, I’ll be right back!” Ali calls and leaves her house. The car ride is short, and now becoming familiar to her. When she reaches Ashlyn’s house, she ponders her options of how to get Ash outside. She starts to grab her phone, but then decides she might as well walk to the door, and maybe meet Ashlyn’s parents. It seems fair since she was going to Ali’s for dinner.  
  
She rings the doorbell and waits outside the door patiently. Someone she definitely didn’t expect opens the door for her, a big guy who’s probably in his twenties.  
  
“Hi! Is Ashlyn here?” Ali’s voice squeaks with her sudden shyness.  
  
“Yeah, one sec…” He turns back to the house,” Ash! Get out here, there’s a chick looking for you!” He looks over his shoulder at Ali with a smile, and Ali can hear someone rushing down the hallway.  
  
“Hey! Sorry, I was a little late getting ready…” Ashlyn says to Ali when she appears in the doorway.  
  
“This is Chris, my brother by the way. I’ll see ya later dude.” Ashlyn gives the guy a fistbump, then steps out next to Ali.  
  
“Yeah, see you.” The door closes behind them, and Ashlyn beams at Ali. The sight of her dimple makes Ali smile too, and they start walking to the car without a word.  
  
“See you brought a jacket,” Ash teases.  
  
“Yeah, thought about wearing yours, since you forgot it.” Ali shrugs, her cheeks pinkening with the confession.  
  
“I wish you would have.” Ashlyn leans over the middle console and gives Ali a quick peck on the cheek as she backs out of the driveway.  
  
“So, should I be worried about this dinner?” Ashlyn asks halfway through the car ride. The thought that Ali’s parents might hate her had been bothering her all day.  
  
“Nah. They’re pretty chill, my mom just likes to know all my friends.” Ali is quick to comfort the fear.  
  
“Okay… But I mean a lot of parents don’t like me.” Ashlyn continues, her nerves showing.  
  
“I’m telling you, I like you and that almost always means they will like you.” Ali grabs Ashlyn’s hand and squeezes it.  
  
“Well, I guess it’s time to find out.” Ash sighs when they pull into a driveway.  
  
“First, I want to do this since it might be our only chance tonight.” Ali turns off the engine, and then pulls Ashlyn closer and kisses her. It doesn’t last long in order to keep her parents from getting suspicious of what’s keeping them, but Ash feels a thousand times better already. She smiles once again, and feels the confidence Ali is channeling into her through a final chaste kiss.  
  
“Let’s go!” Ali laughs and gets out of the car walking up to the door. Ashlyn is right behind her, and they walk in to a warm house smelling like a bakery. Ali leads them into the living room where her dad is waiting.  
  
“Hey, Dad! We’re back. This is Ashlyn,” Ali introduces her as he stands up with a smile.  
  
“Hello, Ashlyn! It’s nice to meet you after all this talk we’ve been hearing.” They shake hands.  
  
“Nice to meet you also, Mr. Krieger. I’m excited to get to know the people who raised such a great daughter.” Ashlyn pulls out all the manners she was ever taught by her grandma. Ali rolls her eyes at the great daughter part, and knocks their shoulders together.  
  
“Honestly, I haven’t even done anything all that wonderful.” Ali shrugs.  
  
“Oh come on Ali. Take the compliment.” Her dad laughs, and the sound draws Mrs. Krieger into the room.  
  
“Hello, Ashlyn! We’re so happy you were able to come tonight.” She wraps Ashlyn in a motherly hug. Ashlyn leans into Mrs. Krieger, her shoulders relaxing as they pull apart.  
  
“I wouldn’t miss it.” And when she shoots a smile at Ali, she means it.  
  
“Well first we have to congratulate you on your game friday! A shut out.” Ali’s dad mentions it and her mom nods along.  
  
“Thanks! I was really nervous beforehand.” Ashlyn admits.  
  
Ali widens her eyes and nods dramatically, emphasizing the statement.  
  
“Yeah, Ali had to deal with a lot of that.” Ashlyn shrugs, not even denying it.  
  
“Well you played fantastic. Now let’s go sit down,” Ali’s mom waves them into the dining room.  
  
…

“Can I help you at all, Mrs. Krieger?” Ashlyn stands and picks up her plate as Ali’s mom starts to clean up. The dinner had gone well, and Ashlyn just kept racking in the brownie points. The fact that she was worried about it seems absurd to Ali now. Her parents were just about ready to adopt Ash as one of their own.  
  
“No, it’s okay. You and Ali can go hang out or do whatever.” Ali’s dad is the one to respond, taking the plates left and shooing them out of the room.  
Once behind the closed door of her bedroom Ali beams at Ash.  
  
“That was amazing.” She steps into Ashlyn’s space, wrapping her arms around the keepers strong shoulders.  
  
“Yeah?” Ashlyn laugh and her hands settle on Ali’s waist comfortably.  
  
“Definitely. You’re a suck-up. But that’s okay.” Ali nods. Ash smiles again and leans in to kiss her softly.  
  
“Only for the girls I really like.”  
  
“Suck-up.” Ali mutters through a blush.  
  
“But that’s okay?” Ashlyn smirks with an eyebrow cocked.  
  
“Eh, for now.” She receives a poke to the ribs for this, and has to squirm away.  
  
“So let’s look at your room,” Ashlyn turns around and scans the area, “Very… You.”  
  
“What does that mean?”  
  
“It means this room is fit for a princess.” Ashlyn laughs at Ali’s insecureness.  
  
“Oh. Sure, I guess so.” Ali shrugs then sit on her all white fluffy bed surrounded by her throw pillows.  
  
“Sure… Sure she says. As I stand next to her beautifully drawn curtains across from her vanity.”  
  
Ali crosses her arms and pouts for a second until Ash walks over and stands between Ali’s knees.  
  
“I love your room. I just hope I can treat you as well as a princess obviously deserves.” She smiles and brushes Ali’s hair over one shoulder.  
  
“Ugh, why are you so cute?” Ali sighs and lets her arms uncross.  
  
“Well-”  
  
“That was rhetorical.” She cuts Ashlyn off by covering her mouth. She feels Ashlyn smile against her hand so she replaces it with her lips. They kiss for a minute, lips moving together. Ali leans back, making Ashlyn fall on top of her on the bed, they only pause for a second before returning to their activity. After a few more minutes, there’s a knock at the door and Ashlyn literally falls off the bed in shock. Ali stifles a laugh as she calls out,  
  
“Come in!”  
  
Ali’s mom opens the door and walks in, eyeing Ashlyn who has moved herself so her back is against the bed next to Ali’s feet.  
  
“You girls have been awfully quiet. I was just coming in to say that it’s 8.”  
  
“Oh right. I’ll take Ash home now.” Ali hops up then gives Ash a hand.  
  
All three walk to the entrance way, where Ali’s parents say goodnight to her while she thanks them for a lovely supper. Ashlyn has no hesitation is taking Ali’s hand in the car and they talk the whole ride back.  
  
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Do you want to meet me by my locker before school?” Ali asks once at Ash’s house.  
  
“Yeah! I’ll be there. Goodnight.” She smiles and kisses Ali’s forehead.  
  
“Sleeptight.” Ali responds and kisses Ash’s forehead in return.  
  
“Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Stop!” Ali tries to keep herself from laughing. Ashlyn has a ridiculous face on, as she mouths along with their teacher dramatically. She keeps it up despite Ali’s request, and doesn’t quit until she finally gets a laugh at of her.  
  
“You’re not in middle school, Ash.” Ali says but her eyes still show her amusement.  
  
“No? Wait a second. What am I doing in high school!” Ashlyn goes as if she’s going to stand up, but Ali grabs her elbow quickly and pulls her down again.  
  
“You’re trying to get in trouble now.” Ali smiles and slowly removes her hand.  
  
“Never.”  
  
“You better not be. I need you in practice.” It’s the way her eyes sparkle when she says it that makes Ashlyn shut up. The shrill bell rings and they’re thrust back into the hallways.  
  
“Favorite time of the day.” Ashlyn grins and pats her stomach.  
  
“Lunch.” Ali nods and stops at her locker to grab hers.  
  
…  
  
“I’m fucking starved.” Sydney moans as she sits down at their normal table. Ali, Ashlyn, and HAO are already there but two spots are still waiting to be filled by Tobin and Alex.  
  
“Where are the lovers?” Heather asks after a few more minutes.  
  
“Good question… We saw them this morning by Alex’s locker.” Ali remembers the couple looking happy earlier this morning.  
  
“They’re probably just making out somewhere.” Ash shrugs and then zones off with the new thoughts of her and Ali making out. She snaps out of it when Ali says something again.  
  
“Yeah, they’re big kids; they can handle themselves.”  
  
Everyone nods and goes back to their lunches. Tobin and Alex never show up.  
  
…  
  
“Hi there,” Ali smiles and leans against the locker next to Ashlyn’s. The only class left is soccer and it had been an overall good day.  
  
“Hey,” Ash responds and closes her locker so they can walk. As they make their way to the locker room their shoulders bump together occasionally from the closeness and Ashlyn can’t help but blush everytime Ali looks over at her after. Just before they reach the doors, Ali stops and Ashlyn looks at her with confusion.  
  
“You’re gorgeous,” Ali says it softly as though someone was trying to listen to her, “Okay let’s go in.”  
  
Ashlyn gapes at her as she walks past and into the locker room. She shakes her head then follows. The usual commotion of their team isn’t there though. Instead it’s eerily quiet except for some whispers and the sound of someone crying. Immediately, Ali thinks of the worst. Someone’s hurt, or someone’s dead. She counts the heads quickly, and notices that there’s one person missing. Next, she located the source of the crying. It’s Alex, and that’s when Ali realizes it’s Tobin who isn’t here.  
  
Ashlyn walks up behind her and puts a hand on her lower back. Even though she’s new, she already cares for this team and is concerned as well. It’s Megan who answers their unsaid question.  
  
“We don’t know. She hasn’t said anything yet, we can’t get her to stop crying. Kelley says that everything was fine 3rd period, but that Alex never showed up for fourth.” She whispers.  
  
“They weren’t at lunch… I didn’t think. We didn’t realize-” Ali has trouble completing her thought.  
  
“No one thought it was anything serious,” Ashlyn says and Ali nods.  
  
They notice that the crying has subsided and Alex finally looks ready to talk.  
  
“It’s her parents. Someone saw us hanging out down by the river docks and took a picture of us kissing,” Her voice is scratchy and eyes still watery.  
  
“They left it in her mailbox. When her mom found it today, she came up here and demanded to see Tobin. She checked her out of school. Tobin got the note at the end of third so I walked with her to the office, but when her mom saw us together, she almost exploded right there.” Kelley holds Alex closer to her as she finishes the story.  
  
“I’ve never seen her look so disgusted. And she-” There’s a crack in her voice, “She said that Tobin would never get to see me again if she could help it.” Silence fills the room.  
  
“Guys, I can’t live without her. She’s my best friend. I love her,” Alex breaks down again.  
  
“She can’t do that, Al. It’s not like she can stop Tobin from going to school. Don’t worry. And you know we’ve got your back.” Lauren assures her.  
  
“Yeah. We’ll do whatever it takes to keep you two together.” Megan adds on. She has some experience with this.  
  
“Thank you. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I’m never going to give up. Not on her.” Alex nods.  
  
...  
  
Practice is strangely somber, and the gap that Tobin usually fills is evident, but for the most part everyone plays well. Even Alex manages to take a few good shots, although she seems too distracted to even notice if they make it in.  
  
For Ashlyn, this is very different. She’s used to being on a team, and she knows that the bond between teammates is usually strong, but the fact that these girls have known each other for so long, and how isolated their town is makes them even closer. Each one feels the loss and each one hopes to see their friend back and normal tomorrow.  
  
“It’s really a big deal, isn’t it?” Ashlyn bites her lip when she asks Ali.  
  
Ali looks up from her locker and considers the question before asking, “Which part?”  
  
“The being gay. The relationship. It’s a big deal.” Ash clarifies and answers her own question. It’s been on her mind since they heard Tobin’s mom’s reaction, and she can’t shake the feeling that this could affect her more than she thought.  
  
“Yeah. I told you… People around here just don’t understand it, and if they don’t understand then they don’t approve. It’s the tradition and pride. They don’t see it as something that makes sense, or something real.” She can see Ashlyn’s mind working and can hear the tumblers spinning as she connects everything, and wishes she could assure her that it’s okay. She can’t though. This reminds her of why she’s been afraid, and as unfair as it feels, that life could first give her someone like Ashlyn and then send a warning of destruction, she’s afraid again.  
  
“Don’t. Please,” Ashlyn whispers, as though she hears Ali’s thoughts. It wouldn’t be that surprising if she could. Just another thing they’d share.  
  
“I’m not doing anything. I’m not doing anything right now, and I have no plans to.” Ali says, her hands reaching for Ashlyn, but falling short.  
  
Ashlyn catches her hands though “Okay. Let’s go home?”  
  
“Yeah.” Ali nods, but pulls herself away from Ash. When they walk out, their shoulders don’t brush anymore and Ali doesn’t smirk. Ashlyn worries.  
  
…  
  
Ali keeps her phone by her side at all times that night. If anyone gets word on Tobin, she wants to know immediately. Her homework lays forgotten on her desk, she’s too caught up in her thoughts to understand physics tonight. When her phone buzzes, she snatches it up quickly, but it’s Ashlyn. That’s another thing she’s doesn’t understand. Ashlyn, so sweet and beautiful, had been easy to understand up to today. Ali likes her, they kiss sometimes, Ashlyn gets her without even trying. Before today, there was no thought to it. Now, Ali feels like there’s a choice to be made and neither option is ideal. She doesn’t want to end things, she can’t go back to friends because they were never really friends, and yet she’s afraid that her parents, maybe her town, will find out.  
Ali shakes away the thoughts and opens the text,  
  
Ashlyn  
iMessage  
“Hi. What’s up? Heard anything?”  
  
Ali wishes she could say yes, but it’s been radio silence ever since she got home.  
  
“Hey. I’ve been avoiding homework. Not yet…”  
  
She flips over to her stomach and stretches her arms out before bringing them back to rest her head on.  
  
Ashlyn  
iMessage  
“Sounds like my night. You’ll tell me if you do right?  
I don’t know if they’d think to text me.”  
  
Ali thinks they might, but promises anyway. It’s good to give Ashlyn a firm answer on something. Even if it’s just a text.  
  
…  
  
Ashlyn is trying to prepare herself. She figures that it’s inevitably coming. Ali was going to end things, whatever the things are, because she’s afraid. And Ashlyn gets that, she does, but she also knows what it’s like to whisper Alex in the dark, as if that name somehow granted her access to a deeper part of Ali’s heart. That’s what makes her want to fight it. She tells herself that she should fight, because that’s what they do in the novels and in the novels they always get the girl. Then she remembers how life doesn’t always give out happy endings, and thinks that fighting could be the opposite of what she needs to do. Instead she should prepare to be Ali’s friend. And if she has to be Ali’s friend, then she will be the best friend.  
  
Ashlyn didn’t move to Osborne because she wanted to. She struggled with the idea of a small town, and spent endless nights arguing with her parents to let her stay in Philadelphia. But Ali made this conservative, three light town into a home. She made adventures where Ashlyn thought there were none, and happiness when Ashlyn had all but forgotten what the word meant.  
  
Which is why she could be a friend if that’s what Ali wanted. It would never be enough, but still Ash prepares.  
  
She never gets a text from anyone about Tobin, and slowly Ali stops responding too. It turns out no one got news though, because the next day at school Ashlyn spots them all sitting in front of the building waiting. She joins them, sitting next to Ali and pretending like Ali isn’t avoiding eye contact. Alex looks like she hardly slept at all, but her eyes still dart quickly around the people walking in, searching for who she wants the most.  
  
“There,” Lauren whispers and points as a honey brunette girl slowly comes up the path, her eyes are fixed on the ground and her hands clutch the straps of her backpack. Alex jumps up and quickly intercepts her, stopping her firmly with both hands on her shoulders. Tobin looks up, and a small smile forms on her lips, before she leans in to lightly hug Alex. As soon as she pulls away, she takes Alex’s hand off of her and looks at her team.  
  
“Come on, don’t want you guys to be late to class.” Tobin nods at them and everyone shifts in their seats, debating whether or not to force the subject. It’s Hope who decides for them when she stands up, pulling Kelley with her.  
  
“Yeah, agreed. Let’s go, girls,” They all disperse then, leaving Tobin and Alex to walk to their nearby lockers. There’s a large gap between them, and it reminds Ashlyn of the one between her and Ali.  
  
“Well that was weird,” Ashlyn finally says when Ali stops at her locker.  
  
“Yeah… I feel really bad for them, but there’s not anything we can do honestly,” Ali sighs and looks over at Ash. She meets her eyes for the first time that day, and now Ashlyn knows why she’d been avoiding that.  
  
“Stop.” She says.  
  
“What?” Ali’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.  
  
Ash shakes her head and closes her eyes momentarily while gathering her thoughts, “I don’t need you to look at me like that. With pity, or with guilt. If you want to tell me something, just do it, because your eyes are already talking.”  
  
“What do you think I want to say, Ash? If you’re expecting me to say we’re done doing this,” she points between them,”then you’re wrong. I’m so done with everyone thinking I’m fragile or something. Like I can’t handle a rough patch. I am stronger than that, okay? And for some reason I thought we could be too.” Ali slams her locker shut, and spins around while Ashlyn just gapes at her retreating form. Slowly, a grin forms on her face, and she walks off to her own class. That was certainly not how she thought today would start.  
  
Her next classes speed by as she anxiously waits to continue the conversation with Ali. Everyone else seems to have relaxed after seeing Tobin before school.  
  
“Hey,” Ashlyn sits down in her normal spot next to Ali.  
  
“Hi… I want to apologize for going off earlier. I don’t even know why I did that, I wasn’t mad at you. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure of where I stood until I looked at you. Does that even make sense? I just knew then what I wanted.” Ali starts immediately.  
  
“I understand. Everything. It’s been stressful, so you probably needed to blow off some steam like that. And I’m really really happy that you know what you want. What was it again?” Ash smiles and leans a bit closer.  
  
“Really?” Ali rolls her eyes.  
  
“Please, Alex. Just say it,”  
  
“You, Ashlyn. Or us. Me and you, on the bridge with your jacket and the stars. Or in my princess bedroom after dinner with my parents. This,” Ali grabs Ashlyn’s hands and traces the long fingers, so adept at catching things. The perfect hands for Ali to let herself fall for. The bell rings sharply, and they both pull their hands back into their own space. Their teacher begins to lecture about the next book they’re being assigned. When she talks about the climax of the book Ashlyn whispers to Ali across the space,  
  
“I don’t think we’ve reached that yet.”  
  
Ali’s nose crinkles as she tries to understand, so Ashlyn adds to her statement,  
  
“Alex and Tobin are probably at theirs… I don’t want ours to be about that though. Let’s promise that the climax of our story isn’t about us both being girls, I want it to be about us.”  
  
“Okay. But you do realize that we don’t really get to pick, and also those are the parts of the most action, so usually it’s bad…” Ali agrees hesitantly.  
  
“Hmm. We’ll get there when we get there.”  
  
Ashlyn goes back to taking notes, but Ali just watches her curiously. It’s hard to believe that the same girl who sends her pictures of smiling goats could be so serious about something. It also fueled this strange feeling in her stomach when Ashlyn talked about them like there’s a future, because Ali never wanted one with someone like she does now.


	7. Chapter 7

Tobin’s stare travels from the board to her desk in quick flicks, completely ignoring everything else around her in the room. Alex isn’t even in this class, but a couple of her teammates are and they send curious glances her way. At the last five minutes, they all put their things away and walk over to her desk. Amy is the first to speak,  
  
“Hey, Tobs. How are you?” She asks gently. Tobin’s shoulders inch up a bit, but she doesn’t say anything.  
  
“Anything you want to talk about, we’re here.” Lauren puts a hand on her back, and then she looks up at them.  
  
“I don’t really think there’s anything to talk about. My parents don’t approve, and I don’t really care. I’m not sure it’s even possible for me to stay away from her if I tried. Am I upset that they don’t understand? Yeah, but I’m going to be fine no matter what. As long as she puts up with it, I will.”  
  
Amy and Lauren share a glance before nodding. Lauren smiles softly at her and replies,  
  
“Alright, I trust you, Tobin. And I know Alex loves you. I mean you’ve been best friends for 10 years.”  
  
The bell rings and Tobin’s head is a little higher then when she entered.  
  
…  
  
“That felt fantastic! Wow.” Ali breathes heavily and pushes back some loose hair.  
  
“I know.” Ashlyn smiles back with a glint in her eye.  
  
They just finished a 4 mile run in very good time, and were still on a high. Ashlyn steps closer to Ali and meets her eyes with a soft smile, then suddenly her face crinkles up and she goes to hold her nose.  
  
“You’re smelly.”  
  
Ali shoves her away with a roll of her eyes,  
  
“Like you’re any better?”  
  
They both laugh and despite the apparent stink, Ashlyn kisses her. They make their way back to the still open locker rooms to shower and change. When they walk out, Ashlyn throws an arm around Ali and they chat quietly.  
  
“Ash!” Someone calls out from across the parking lot, and they both turn toward the voice. A tall girl with short brown hair jogs over and stops a few feet short. Ali looks confused, but Ashlyn’s face shows recognition.  
  
“Hey, Jordan.”  
  
“Wow, Ash. When Lizzie told me that you moved to the middle of fucking nowhere, I almost didn’t believe it. But here you are,” the girl laughs.  
  
“Yeah, here I am.” Ash shifts uncomfortably.  
  
“Um…” Ali makes herself known, and Ashlyn speaks again,  
  
“Oh Jo, this is Ali, my girlfriend.”  
  
Jordan seems to notice Ali for the first time, and her eyes take in Ali’s pastel cardigan and flats.  
  
“Hey. Nice to meet you, Ali.” Her tone suggests otherwise though, and she quickly turns back to Ashlyn.  
  
“So how ya been? Is it as bad as we always thought?”  
  
“Living here? No. Not at all, I love it.” Ashlyn takes Ali’s hand and squeezes it slightly.  
  
“You’re kidding, right? There’s no way Ashlyn Harris is enjoying living here.” Jordan laughs again.  
  
“Well, I am. Ali and I really have to go now, she should be home soon.” Ashlyn starts to back away again.  
  
“I’ll call you, we can meet up while I’m here.”  
  
Ash nods before completely turning around and pulling Ali along. Once back in the car, Ali turns to look at her.  
  
“What was that? Or who was that?”  
  
“So remember the team night where I told everyone that I got involved with a bad crowd for awhile? Well Jo was sorta in that crowd.”  
  
Ali nods slowly and sighs.  
  
“Oh… Are you actually going to meet up with her?”  
  
“I don’t know, maybe? We were friends for awhile.” Ashlyn leans back as Ali starts the car and drives.  
  
“Then how did she not know you left?” Ali reasons.  
  
“She was in long-term.”  
  
“Ash! Do you even hear yourself? This is obviously not someone you need to be hanging out with.” Ali exclaims at Ashlyn and clutches the steering wheel.  
  
“I’m not like that anymore! I can handle this. Besides, you aren’t my mother.” She protests, looking out the window.  
  
“You’re right. I’m just your girlfriend, who cares for you a lot and wants to see you succeed. But, I suppose that means nothing to you?”  
  
Ashlyn sighs and turns back toward Ali as they stop at a stoplight.  
  
“Of course that means something, Al. I’m sorry, it’s just that you can’t expect me to completely ignore everyone from my life before Osborne.”  
  
“Take me with you at least. Please?” Ali concedes.  
  
“I will. Alex, I promise you, I’m not going to go back there. I hated myself during that time. I am so so happy right here with you.” Ashlyn takes the hand offered to her and places a kiss on the back of it.  
  
“I trust you, Ash.”  
  
The rest of the car ride is quiet until Ali drops her off.  
  
“I’ll text you after she calls. Bye, babe.” They share a quick kiss before the door opens. Ali shakes her head at the feeling in her gut, and backs out of the driveway.  
  
When Ashlyn shuts the door to her room, she pulls out her phone and throws it on the bed. After staring at it for a few minutes, she turns the volume up and then attempts her history homework. She’s about halfways through a paragraph describing Teddy Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy when she hears it ring. After it rings a couple of time, she answers,  
  
“Hey!”  
  
“Sup, Ash! It’s Jordan.”  
  
“Yeah, what’s up?”  
  
“Not much, I was wondering what you were thinking about us hanging out.”  
  
“I’m game, where were you thinking, and when?” Ashlyn leans back in her chair and messes with a zipper on her jacket as the girl thinks for a second.  
“How about tomorrow night, and I’ll give you directions to where I’m staying?” Jo answers with her suggestion. Ashlyn considers it, going over her schedule and Ali’s quickly.  
  
“Okay. Oh, one more thing. It’s cool if I bring Ali, right?”  
  
There’s a slight pause, but it’s barely noticeable before she says, “Your girl? Sure, why not.”  
  
“Awesome. Trust me, you’ll like her... I’ve got to go, Jor, but I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ashlyn tries to end the call, so she can text Ali.  
  
“Alright, see ya!” They hang up, but Ashlyn doesn’t put her phone down.  
  
“Tomorrow night with Jo? You’re coming?”  
  
There’s a few seconds before the dots pop up and she gets her reply.  
  
New Message  
Ali  
“Of course. Thank you for bringing me along…”  
  
Seeing this makes Ash feel a little guilty about how she acted earlier in the car.  
  
“Don’t thank me. I want you there, always”  
  
…  
  
Kelley has been sitting on Alex’s bed for the last hour as they talk, listen to music, do homework, and pretty much avoid mentioning Tobin at all. It’s been going well, but Kelley can see the topic edging it’s way to the top as Alex’s eyes stop meeting Kelley’s and her voice softens. Finally, she takes it upon herself to ask,  
  
“Okay, how are you feeling? No bullshit either. What’s going on between Tobin and you? Spill everything right now or forever hold your peace.”  
  
It just so happens that she asks in the middle of Alex’s sentence, so there’s a scowl followed by Alex’s hands covering her face. She mumbles something, but it’s totally incoherable, so Kel leans forward and pokes the hands out of the way.  
  
“I don’t know. She was so awkward today… I mean she talks, and we hug, but it’s not there. And I don’t know if I should force the subject, or just let her bring it up on her own.” Alex sighs and bites her lip with uncertainty.  
  
“If I knew who caused this, I would beat them up for you. I don’t, but if I did.” Kelley punches her hand to emphasize her point, “In the mean time. I think you guys need to talk about this. It was probably good to wait today, but sooner rather than later.”  
  
“Yeah, I think you’re right…” She trails off and flips through a few pages of her book before looking up again,  
  
“You know, my parents talked to me. Tobin’s parents told them. They were super supportive of me. Didn’t care at all, just expressed their love for Tobs. It was nice. I wish it had happened under better circumstances.”  
  
They sit there for a few moments in silence, before Alex’s cat jumps onto the bed and they move on.  
  
…  
  
Wednesday goes by fast for Ali, leading up to a strenuous afternoon practice. It’s nice to see the team work peacefully again, and the stress from the last few days is dissipating. Ashlyn seems happy as ever, and jokes around easily, but Ali is nervous. Tonight, they’re meeting Jordan, and Ali can’t help but feel like Ashlyn will suddenly remember how lame Osborne is, and inherently how lame that leaves Ali. Her parents were wary to even let Ali go, but she made a good case for it, so now they’re sitting in Ali’s car while Ashlyn gives directions.  
  
“Turn right at the next stop sign, and it says it’s on the left.” They’re in a suburb of Pittsburgh now, and the houses were average. Ali parks out front, and then they walk up to the door hand in hand.  
  
“Ash! Come in, come in.” They’re ushered in by Jordan.  
  
“Hey guys! Guess who’s here.” Jordan shouts as they walk down a hallway and into a living area.  
  
“Yo! What’s up, girl?” There’s 4 other people in the room, and they all seem to know Ashlyn in some way.  
  
“Hey, everyone. This is Ali, my girlfriend.” Ashlyn makes sure to introduce her right away.  
  
“Hi, Ali. Managed to tie down Ash, eh? Quite a feat.” A guy who says his name is Jacob jokes, and everyone else laughs. They make room on the couch, and someone pulls Ali down into the middle. Ash keeps an arm around her shoulders, but a Jacob is also pressed against her, and suddenly she feels overwhelmed. It smells like smoke in the house, Ali can see the liquor bottles on the counter, there hasn’t been an adult since she got here, and everyone is talking over each other about things Ali barely understands. But Ash is laughing with a girl across from them, and they each seem interested in how she’s been since leaving.  
  
“You want anything to drink, Ali?” Jordan offers, and Ali has a feeling she doesn’t mean soda.  
  
“No, I’m fine thank you.” She declines.  
  
“You got a polite one, Ash. Pretty too. Let me guess, you were born in that small town.” Someone named Mark says.  
  
“Um, yeah. Well, in Leets.”  
  
“Isn’t that where you live?” Jo asks.  
  
“Technically, Ali and I live in Osborne.” Ashlyn answers for Ali, and smiles widely while looking at her. The adoration in her eyes makes Ali blush and look down. As the night goes on, Ali starts to feel more comfortable, mostly because Ashlyn never stops holding on to her, and also denies the drinks offered. Some of them commented on how she’d turned into a wimp, but Ashlyn shrugged it off and kissed Ali’s temple.  
  
Eventually, Ali has to get up and asks where the bathroom is. She’s directed upstairs, and takes her time, splashing her face and trying to keep her confidence up. When she walks out, Jacob is standing across from the door.  
  
“Oh, sorry. Here,” Ali tries to let him by, but he doesn’t move to the bathroom.  
  
“You know, you’re really hot.” Something in his voice doesn’t sound quite sober.  
  
“Um, thanks. I’m just gonna,” Ali steps toward the stairs, but he steps in the way.  
  
“What’s the rush? Too good to have a conversation with a low life like me?”  
  
“No, I would just rather have it downstairs. I’ve been up here awhile, I should get back to Ashlyn.” Ali tries to hide the growl in her voice, but she’s starting to get angry.  
  
“Why? Can’t you hear your girl having a good time by herself down there? Stay up here with me for awhile. We can have fun too.” He smirks and moves himself into Ali’s space. She tenses and has the urge to slap him right there, but lets out a warning first,  
  
“Step back now. I’m going to go downstairs and Ash and I are going to leave.”  
  
In response, Jacob snarls,  
  
“Don’t you get it? You’re a nobody. Ashlyn is using you, and afterwards she’ll drop you like a rock. I mean honestly, what do you expect? That Ash is going to fall in love with you and just forget all about her old life? She’s not going to change just because her parents forced her to move. If you actually believe it, then you’re more naive than I thought.”  
  
Ali tries to bite back the tears, as she pushes past Jacob and down the stairs.  
  
She walks straight to Ashlyn and pulls her up,  
  
“We need to leave now.”  
  
When she sees Ali’s face, Ash doesn’t hesitate to nod.  
  
“Okay. Bye guys, nice to see you again.”  
  
“Yeah, bye.” Ali calls to them, and leads them out the door. Once back in the car, Ali drives without a word.  
  
“Babe, what happened up there?” Ashlyn tries to coax the information out, but all Ali can think about is how happy she was with her old friends. It makes her question if he was right. Ali wasn’t like them, so why would Ash like her? Maybe it was stupid to ever think it.  
  
“Nothing, I just feel really sick.”  
  
Ash raises her eyebrows and shakes her head before sighing,  
  
“Alright, Alex. Let’s get you home then.”  
  
She looks at both of Ali’s hands clutching the steering wheel, folds her own in her lap and then sensing the conversations are over, looks out the window.  
  
…  
  
Ali doesn’t kiss her when they get back, and doesn’t text her after. Ashlyn tries to ignore it, but can’t help but think that it must be her fault. In actuality, Ali is attempting to sort through the doubts that were springing up in her mind…  
  
…  
  
At school, Ali doesn’t mention it. She pretends to go about her day as normal, laughing at Ash’s silly antics, and walking with her between classes. But it all seems a little forced, and each time she has to fake a smile, she sees Ash’s concern grow. Ali wishes she could stop, but it’s always been in her blood to worry.  
  
“You okay, babe?” Ashlyn whispers to her during lunch, her curiosity finally winning out.  
  
“Yeah! I’m great.” Ali nods and tries to assure her, and herself.  
  
“Okay…” They both turn back to their food, and the conversations around them.  
  
“I’m really ready for this game tomorrow… Gotta let out some steam.” HAO mentions, and everyone agrees with big nods. The week had been a strange one, and a lot of it was frustrating.  
  
“I know what you mean.” Tobin tries to laugh, but everyone shifts in their seats, thinking about why.  
  
“Come on, guys. That was a joke,” she rolls her eyes, and Alex cracks a smile, more because that sounds like her old Tobin, than because it was funny. She leans into Tobin, and rests her cheek on Tobs’ shoulder. They share a look so full of love that it seems that there’s no way they couldn’t be made for each other.  
  
When the bell rings for class, Ashlyn walks beside Ali, and nudges their shoulders together to get her attention.  
  
“Meet me before practice, okay?”  
  
“Sure. Go to class,” Ali nods and pushes her in the opposite direction. As soon as she turns around, Ali lets out a sigh and rubs her eyes. Ashlyn was trying so hard; it was her turn.  
  
She spends her last real class of the day considering what she was planning for this meetup. Whatever she says has to put Ashlyn’s mind to rest, even if her own was still spiraling. The bell rings, jolting her from her thoughts. She knows that exactly where Ashlyn will be waiting, and walks straight to the extra doors to the athletic center. Ashlyn is leaning against the wall in the inlet there, and stands up straight with her questions already posed, but doesn’t get the chance to say anything. Ali pushes her back into the wall, and kisses her deeply. Ashlyn hesitates to respond, but then wraps her arms around Ali’s waist and flips them around. They make out there until the minute bell sounds and Ash pulls away.  
  
“Nice try, but we still need to talk later.” She smirks, and pecks Ali’s nose with a kiss. Ali blushes and mumbles something, but Ash just laughs and opens the door for her to enter. And even though her plan didn’t really work, Ash does seems to walk a little lighter, and her eyes brighter, so it was worth it anyways. And it postponed the talk. And not to mention Ali got to make out with her super hot girlfriend for a couple minutes. Actually, her plan was really succesful.


	8. Chapter 8

At practice that afternoon, Ashlyn was on fire. Saving shot after shot, and directing her defense perfectly. As soon as they got back into the locker room, she locks Ali in a hug from behind with a wide grin.  
“I think we should do that before every practice, and game. Good luck charm?”  
  
Ali laughs and shrugs her off,  
  
“We’ll see about that.”  
  
She avoids making eye contact with Ashlyn as she grabs her stuff and makes idle chat with HAO.  
  
Ashlyn gets her stuff, and gets some advice from Hope about their game the next day. When Ashlyn looks up again, Ali is already out the door. She scowls to herself, and jogs to catch up. Before she reaches Ali though, Kelley grabs her arm with a cheeky grin.  
  
“Hey, Ash! Can you help me out for a second? Alex thinks she’s smarter than me. Tell her she’s wrong.”  
  
Alex rolls her eyes at the back of Kelley’s head, before speaking up,  
  
“Can’t you see Ashlyn is in a rush, her ride is about to leave with out her. That’s why I know I’m smarter.” Ashlyn chuckles slightly, and glances around, realizing that Alex was right, Ali was already in her car.  
  
“See you guys later!” She calls and hurries to get in the car after Ali.  
  
“Were you about to leave me here with those people?” Ashlyn fake gasps, her eyes getting wide. Ali tries to hide her smile, and shrugs.  
  
“No, of course not.”  
  
“Sure. Hey, do you want to go to Old Track? I’d like some time with you…” Ash asks hesitantly, not sure if Ali will say yes or not.  
  
“I don’t know. I have a lot of work to do.” Ali starts to deflect.  
  
“Please?” She sticks her bottom lip out and Ali sighs.  
  
“Okay, let’s go.”  
  
The ride is too quiet, but neither tries to say anything to fill the pressing silence. Maybe they both realize that the words building up would soon spill out in a flood, so there was no point trying to talk now. Ashlyn is out the door before Ali can even turn off the car, but she still takes her time unbuckling and taking a few deep breathes before joining her.  
  
“This is what I love about living out here.” Ashlyn throws a rock into the river, and it splashes in with a thunk.  
  
“There’s no places this quiet in the city.”  
  
Ali walks up behind her and glances over the side of the rails,  
  
“Do you really like it here?”  
  
Ashlyn smiles and nods,  
  
“Yes. I do.”  
  
Ali sighs and tries to believe her. Why shouldn’t she? Has Ash ever lied to her? But for some reason her mind couldn’t accept it.  
  
“Why?”  
  
Her voice is so small when she asks, it breaks Ashlyn’s heart.  
  
“Because I can see the stars. Because everyone was so nice when I came. Because my mom has a job. Because there’s this beautiful girl who lets me hold her hand sometimes. What else do I need?”  
  
“One girl who’s never even been with a girl before, who’s never smoked, and rarely drinks. Why do you want that?” Ali’s stare remains on the water below them, even when Ash walks closer.  
  
“Al…” Her gentle tone is supposed to make Ali feel better, but it does the opposite. It sounds like pity, and that’s exactly what she doesn’t want. She turns away, and sags her shoulder’s not looking up when Ash places a hand on her back.  
  
“Alex, look at me.” Ashlyn demands, her voice threatening to crack, that’s what makes Ali look up, “I don’t know why you have this absurd notion that you’re not good enough, or bad enough? I don’t get it. I don’t understand how you could think that, didn’t you feel our connection from the beginning? And when we kissed?” There’s almost a smile when Ash mentions that first moment.  
  
“Al, if I ever made you feel like this wasn’t real, then I will take that blame, but I never meant to. You’re the most real thing in my life right now. So please, stop this. Come back to me.”  
  
Ali reaches up, and brushes her thumb over the tear that escaped. Then she pulls Ash into her, and buries her face in the crook of her shoulder.  
  
“Okay. I’m sorry. It wasn’t you. It was never you. You’ve been so wonderful to me. I’m so sorry I’m so pathetic.” Ali mumbles.  
  
“God, Al. You’re not pathetic. You’re so so strong, and I need you to know that. I also need to know why you thought those things.”  
  
Ali pulls back, and bites her lip before sighing.  
  
“That night at your friends. Jake? He stopped me upstairs and told me that you could never care about me. He made it seem like the very idea was insane, and my own insecurities made me believe him. He was drunk, just completely blasted.” Ali watches as Ashlyn’s neck tenses with her jaw as she explains the beginning of her self-doubt.  
  
“What an ass. I can’t believe he’d tell you that. It doesn’t matter if he was drunk or not, he had no right.” Ash growls.  
  
“I just feel stupid for believing him…” Al sighs, but Ashlyn cups her cheek gently and pulls her in for a soft kiss.  
  
“You’re not stupid. It’s natural to be insecure sometimes, but I never want you to feel that way about me. Because as far as I’m concerned, you’re way out of my league, and I’m the one who shouldn’t have managed you.”  
  
“That’s ridiculous, Ash. You’ve had girlfriends before, and you’re so cool, and hot. I’m just a small town girl who hadn’t even kissed a girl before.” Ali shook her head, and traced her fingers across Ashlyn’s shoulders.  
  
“I have had girlfriends before, but none that were as pretty, smart, adorable, talented, fun, or nice as you. You’re the best I’ve ever had, and I’m so completely honored that you bestowed me with your first kiss.” She smiles, and Ali giggles at the compliments, “Do you believe me?”  
  
“Yes, I do.” Ali nods, “It doesn’t say much if I said you were the best I’ve had too, if you’re the only girl I’ve ever had, huh?”  
  
Ash laughs and shakes her head.  
  
“No, but I’ll take it. Now, let’s get you home. Your parents are probably worried about you.”  
  
Ali grabs her arm to keep her from walking away, and pulls her over to the open car door. Pulling her into the backseat, she lays her head on Ashlyn’s chest.  
  
“They’re fine. Just lay here with me for awhile, please?”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
The sound of the radio buzzes in the background, and crickets start to sing as the sun sets around them with an orange glow illuminating the car, and shining against Ali’s hair.  
  
Ashlyn murmurs the lyrics to All of Me when it comes on, making Ali press a kiss to her collarbone.  
  
When the darkness settles in, Ash forces them to get up, and makes sure to text their parents.  
  
“You need some food. Want to stop somewhere on the way back?” She squeezes Ali’s hand before they back out into the road.  
  
“Sure, I’ll take us somewhere.” Ali nods.  
  
After they stop for dinner, Ali drops Ashlyn off and tries to focus on her homework. Something that gets more difficult as Ashlyn starts sending her random things she adores about Ali.  
  
“The nose crinkle smile”  
  
“Your consistently painted nails”  
  
“The way you tilt your head when we talk”  
  
Every single text she gets Ali feels herself falling in love with the doting girl, and with every text she sends Ashlyn falls a little deeper herself.


End file.
